God infinite and reason [microform] concerning the attributes of God

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Besides the main topic this book also treats of
Subject No. On page Subject No. On page

GOLD AND THE GOSPEL.

'tin

ON THE

SCRIPTURAL DUTY OF GIVING IN PROPORTION
TO MEANS AND INCOME.

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PUBLISHED BY CARLTOF & PHILLIPS, -

TOR THE TRA.OT SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL OHTTROH,
200 MTTLBEEKY-STBEET.

1855.

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2-

INTRODUCTION.

THE rights of God are by no means" gener-
ally acknowledged in this fallen world. Men
deem themselves the sovereign proprietors
of whatever they can acquire. The silver
and the gold are appropriated, with no well-
defined sense of responsibility, to meet their
own imaginary or real wants, and whatever
is devoted to the cause of God is called char-
ity! But shall we indulge the thought of
giving to him his own ? " The earth is the
Lord's, and the fullness thereof." The fail-
ure to understand this fact, and act upon it,
has retarded, for ages, the conversion of the
world, and left countless generations to per-
ish without the hope of redemption. It is
matter of devout gratitude that the attention
of the Church is now directed to this subject
of momentous importance. Throughout the
Christian world men are inquiring, with evi-
dent conviction of sad delinquencies, What

4: JNTKODUOTION.

* 17*

are the rights of Gr&d"fti relation* to property?
What is the measure of human responsibility
in regard to the enterprises of the Church?
And under the evident guidance of the Holy
Spirit they are turning everywhere to the
Bible, to see whether divine revelation has
answered these questions. This is a most
favorable indication. Powerful essays are
called out by the anxious concern and no-
ble benevolence of Christian philanthropists,
which are demonstrating the law of Chris-
tian liberality with great clearness and force,
and the Church is already feeling the elevat-
ing influence of the movement. The ac-
counts of her various treasuries indicate a
progress, within the last five years, which is
really amazing, but full of encouragement.

"With these convictions, we welcome, with
peculiar satisfaction, the Ulster prize essays,
published under the title of Gold and the
Gospel. They are well adapted to the
American mind, and the inquiring and im-
proving condition of the American Church-
es. Two of them we are most happy to
present to our readers, devoutly praying that
they may be accompanied everywhere by
the divine blessing, producing conviction
and prompt continued action in the spirit
they suggest. They will by no means su-

INTRODUCTION.

persede, but certainly prepare the way for
others, by American writers.

The power of order is acknowledged in
almost everything. The merchant who con-
ducts his business in a confused, irregular
manner, fails. The mechanic who has not
" a place for everything, and everything in
its place," seldom attains skill in his depart-
ment of labor. The agriculturist who. has
no method in cultivating the soil, is likely to
" beg in harvest and have nothing." In the
smallest matter we insist upon some regular
plan, and in proportion as our schemes or
duties rise in importance, the obligations of
order increase. How unreasonable, then,
that in the great work of religious benevo-
lence, we should allow everything to be con-
fused and accidental! Christians generally,
there is reason to fear, give when they are
importuned, and not unfrequently congratu-
late themselves when they escape: give by
impulse, and more or less, as they happen to
feel, or find it convenient under the circum-
stances. It is difficult to see how this can
be accepted by the omniscient God as the
fulfillment of a high religious duty. If the
claim of the Church upon you be a valid one
for the relief of the poor, for the support of
education or the ministry, of Christian mis-

6 INTRODUCTION". .

sions, or the Bible, tract, or Sunday-scliool
cause, how can it be affected by the absence
or presence of an importunate representative
of the cause, or the failure to receive a formal
application, with eloquent appeals, under the
pressure of custom, or example? That por-
tion of your treasures which belongs to each
and to all of these noble enterprises is your
debt. No time no circumstances can dis-
charge it, without your voluntary act ; and
your interest as well as duty requires that it
should be paid. To search out the objects
of your benevolence to inquire for the va-
rious treasuries of the Lord, and with due
promptness and regularity to pay over the
proportion which is due, with many prayers
for the divine blessing upon your appropri-
ations, ought to be your highest privilege.
When will the Church rise to this elevated
standard?

*

JESSE T. PECK.

AN ESSAY

OH THE

tera of Cfjrotiait

BY THE

REV. HENRY CONSTABLE, A.M.,

CCBATE OF ATHNOWKN, DIOCESS OF COBK.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

IT is the object of the following Essay to establish,
that God has at all times laid down a standard by
which man is to regulate his liberality in his cause,
and that this standard has been the same for all dis-
pensations. The writer is free to confess that, when
led on the present occasion to consider this subject
with attention, he was disposed to view it in a some-
what different light from that in which he has pre-
sented it here. He was inclined to think, that while
Holy Scripture required of the Christian to honor God
with a portion of his substance, that portion was left
undetermined, and each was permitted to give just as
his own conscience and judgment suggested. The
more he considered the matter, however, in the light
of reason and of Scripture, the more inclined he be-
came to doubt the correctness of his opinion ; until,
at length, he came to the conclusion, that in this, as
in other respects, God has laid down a rule by which
Christians ought to walk. It may be that the argu-
ments, almost wholly drawn from Scripture, which
have convinced his own mind, may have the same
effect on others. If they shall lead even a single
worldling to perceive that he is not, in the disposition
of his property, free from the claims of Him who is,

10 PREFACE.

in fact, the sole great Proprietor of all; or if they shall
induce any, who heretofore may have satisfied them-
selves with giving in the nohlest of all causes some
miserable portion wholly unworthy of Him to whom
it is offered, to feel that more is required at their hands,
he will not have written in vain. For the sake of
convenience the Essay has been divided into the fol-
lowing .chapters :

Chap. 1. God is the owner of all things.

" 2. God is the disposer of all things.

" 3. Man's use of God's goods has always been
limited.

" 4. It is reasonable to think this limit should be
a definite one.

" 5. A tenth required of mankind from the ear-
liest times.

" 6. Abraham and Jacob's tenth.

" T. The Jewish tithe.

" 8. The Jewish free-will offering.

" 9. A tenth required from Christians.

" 10. The Christian's free-will offerings.

" 11. The objects on which the Christian is to ex-
pend his offerings.

" 12. Motives to liberality.

" 13. A test of covetousness.

ON THE

MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTER I.

"THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AUD THE FULUJTESS
THEREOF."

THE leading maxim of a celebrated modem
Socialist is, that "property is a crime."
False and ruinous as such a maxim is in the
mouths of those who proclaim war against
property for the sake of plunder, and seek to
overturn the powers that be in order to erect
themselves into a tyranny, there is yet a
point of view in which it is indisputable by
the believer. Man has a right of property
toward his fellow-man ; he has none toward
his God. "Viewed in this latter light, no man
can say that what he possesses is his own.
For here comes in the prior, the inalienable
claim of the great Maker and Owner of all
things ; and in regard of him the wealthiest
and the most powerful descend at once from

12 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

the rank of proprietors to that of the stew-
ards of another's rights. .

Such is, unquestionably, man's relation to
God, as placed before us in Holy Scripture.
"All the earth is mine," is the Creator's
claim ; and who is prepared to deny it? Ac-
cordingly, he asserts his right, one by one,
to each and every of those things which man
prizes most. " Sanctify unto me all the first-
born of the children of Israel, both of man
and beast, it is mine." Of the land of Ca-
naan the land of so many promises the
land hardly obtained, after travel,, and toil,
and warfare, he said, " The land shall not be
sold forever, for the land is mine." "Every
beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle
upon a thousand hills." " The silver is mine,
and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts."
"All souls are mine."

If we turn to the pages of the New Testa-
ment, we shall find the same universal claim
made and acted on. " Come and follow me,"
was the address of Christ to whomsoever he
pleased, and whenever he pleased. It im-
plied the forsaking of every earthly calling
and possession, and yet was not asked as a
favor, but as a right. " "Walking by the sea of
Galilee," he sees two brethren following their
occupation of fishermen : he saith to them,

MBASTHRE OF CHBISTIAST LrBEKALTTT. 13

" Follow me, and they straightway left their
nets and followed him." Going further on,
he sees two more occupied in the same pur-
suit. But these were the -stay and comfort

V

of a father. Shall he deprive an aged father
of his sons? What matter? The Lord had
need of them. The higher claim steps in
before the lesser. To these, too, the call is
given ; " and they left the ship and their
father, and followed him." But some one
may say, these were poor fishermen, and in
asking them to forsake all he asked not for
much. This were, indeed, poor reasoning,
and would indicate a shallow acquaintance
with the human heart. A man's all is equally
precious to him, whether it be little or great ;
and so He, who knew the heart, pronounced
of the widow's gift, that it was more than all
the costly offerings of the wealthy, because,
though in amount but two inites, it was in
fact her all. But Matthew was not a poor
man, and he was called from the midst of his
gainful occupation. The young man whom
Christ commanded to sell all that he had was
noted for his riches ; yet the same summons
came to him that was addressed to the hum-
ble fishers by the sea of Galilee. How great
the difference, however, between these par-
ties ! They recognized the claims of the Lord

14 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

to themselves and their possessions*; lie re-
'fused to do so. They perceived themselves
to be but stewards; he held fast by the no-
tion of ownership. They resigned their trust
to Him. who gave it ; he usurped it. They
were faithful in that which was another's,
and obtained the true riches ; he shut him-
self out by his unfaithfulness from the king-
dom of God.

If we would see a picture of man's exact
position in this respect drawn by the great
Master's hand, we will find it in the remark-
able parable of the talents, in the 25th chap-
ter of St. Matthew. "Who are they to whom
the talents are given? They are all of them
the servants of God. Whose are the talents?
They are God's goods. For what are they
given ? To redound to the glory and praise
of the Giver. Have they passed out of his
control and thought? !Nb; he exacts of them
a strict account. True, to some is given more
than to others : but all are in their respective
talents on the exact same footing that of
managers in trust, and under a grave respon-
sibility, of another's goods. It is quite true,
indeed, that riches are not the only talents
intrusted to man, or spoken of here; but
they are certainly among them, and not the
least important of them.

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 15

O vain man of the world, with thy heart
set upon thy treasures, be they great or little,
with the firm purpose to use them for thy-
self, and to call them and think them thine
own, in what a light does Scripture place
thee ! Thou art in its searching eye but the
usurper of another's- rights the breaker of a
trust which thy God has given thee the
earner of vengeance when he comes to call
thee to account. What would you think of
him who was intrusted by his friend with
property, who, during that friend's absence,
appropriated this property to himself, and on
his return denied that he had done him wrong?
Great would be your indignation and severe
your judgment, and yet thou art thyself the
man ! God has given you wealth, or the power
and opportunity to get wealth ; but thou hast
said with prosperous and covetous Israel of old,
that it was " thy own power, and the might of
thy hand," and the strength of thy intellect,
which have done it all. You look not be-
yond your intellect to Him that gave it to
you beyond your enterprise to him that
endowed, you with it beyond your bodily
strength to him that made you strong be-
yond the opportunities of your position to
him that placed you in it. You contract
your thoughts within second causes, and re-

16 MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

fleet not on the first great Cause. You bound
your "vision, by the narrow horizon of your
own making, and will not look beyond it,
lest you should discover that you are, after
all, in God's own world a servant aniid an
innumerable ministry a steward amid count-
less multitudes, who render, or must one day
render, an account of their stewardship. O,
reflect but for a moment on what an extend-
ed view into the realities of creation will
bring before you ! Behold the bright throng
of angels, creatures of mighty power and
transcendent intellect ! They are busy ; not
one of them is idle. They pervade each part
of the boundless universe; they visit each
planet and star which stud infinite space;
millions of them walk this earth. On whose
business do they speed ? For whom do they
exercise their mighty energies ? All is done
for God. "With ceaseless praise they behold
his works; with ceaseless activity they do
his will ; proud even to wait upon sinful man,
because they are sent by God. Or, cast your
eyes even on those your fellow-creatures upon
earth, whom at times you are disposed, per-
haps, to regard as fools. Amid your ever-
crowding businesses and your fast-succeeding
pleasures you have, doubtless, heard of, you
have occasionally met with, a peculiar peo-

MEASURE; OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. IT

pie. Observe them, mark them well. There
may be hypocrites among them, but all are
not hypocrites. There may be dross, but
there is also gold. You will find one idea,
to you a strange one, their ruling idea it is
that they a/re not their own; that all that they
are and have, their time, their energies, their
knowledge, their riches, their souls and bodies,
belong to the God of their redemption. Yes,
even here, at this time are, and at all times
have been, such a people. Their graces ob-
scured by infirmity and tarnished by sin,
they are yet, in the actuating and governing
principle of their minds, one with the un-
sullied angels, in that with them they ascribe
to their Lord the undivided right to them
and to theirs. "Why should you stand upon
a different footing ? Are you not alike the
creatures of Grod? Is it not from the same
bounty on his part that your blessings are
derived ? Is not that bounty the great origi-
nal fountain whence streams of goodness and
love flow to every individual of the race ?
Cease, then, to speak of your possessions as
your own ; be wise, and call them what they
are a trust from your God.

2

18 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTER n.

" IS IT NOT LAWFUL FOR ME TO DO WHAT I WILL
WITH MINE OWN?"

IF God be, in truth, the owner of all things,
as we have seen from Scripture that he is, it
follows, as a matter of course, that he is also
the disposer of his property. "May I not
do what I will with my own ?" is the lan-
guage of ownership ; and without this power
it is but an empty name. And so St. Paul says
of the heir, while under age, and incapable
of making disposition of his property, that
he " drffereth nothing from a servant, though
he be Lord of all." It plainly rests with God,
then, in intrusting his property to man, to
make what regulations he pleases for its dis-
posal. What those regulations are, we will
consider further on, and are now merely in-
sisting on his right to make them. "We appre-
hend, indeed, that there will be few, if any, to
dispute this point at least when they have
calmly reflected on the matter. The owner
of property among men, in engaging a stew-
ard over his estates, or a manager over his
business, is never thought to exceed his rights

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 19

in defining to such parties the manner in
which they are to transact his business.
Surely the great Owner of the universe has
an equal, or rather a far better right to do
the same. He may indeed, as pleases him,
see fit to place greater or less restrictions on
human management; to leave man in a
greater or less degree to his own judgment;
to leave what portion he esteems suitable to
man's discretion; or to tie up what portion
he thinks fit to be used in a particular way.
All that we contend for now is God's perfect
right to interfere in what degree he pleases
with man's management of his trusts. This
point is, indeed, so plain follows so neces-
sarily from the conclusion of our first chap-
ter, that to insist at further length upon it
would be the merest waste of time. It only
remains for us to inquire on what terms God
has put us in trust with his goods ; has he
left us at an absolute freedom in their use ?
or has he pointed out how we are to use a
portion of them, and what that portion is
to be?

That God has not resigned to man the ab-
solute disposal even of a portion of his trust
we can prove beyond a doubt. The proof
arises from this fact, that there is not a single
gift of God to man which he does not with-

20 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

. *

draw at pleasure. I argue upon the assump-
tion, which no Christian disputes, that God's
providence directs or overrules every event
of every man's life ; that there is no such
thing as chance, and no power independent
of God's. Now, let us run over in our minds
the various gifts of God to man, and we will
see that they have been, and continue to be,
taken away from men of every variety and
shade of character, the enemies and friends
of God alike. The deluge deprived the world
of the ungodly of their all, and fire from
heaven did the same for the wicked inhabit-
ants of Sodom. Saul had his crown wrested
from him, and Israel and Judah were left with-
out home, or possession, or native land, when
the decree of God sent them captives to As-
syria and Babylon. Abraham, the friend of
God, gave up Ms country, and, in intention,
his son, at the divine command : Lot barely
escaped with life from Sodom, but left all
his wealth behind : Job in one day lost ser-
vants and substance, sons and daughters, was
left as naked of worldly goods as when he
came from his mother's womb, yet nothing
escaped from his lips but the words of pious
submission to the great Disposer, "The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord." So in the New

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 21

Testament, those cases on which, we relied
as proving God's ownership were, in fact,
instances of his disposing of men's posses-
sions, and need not be referred to further.
And what are pestilences, and famines, and
earthquakes, and other fearful judgments,
but heaven-sent witnesses to the truth that
God has not ceased to exercise sovereign au-
thority in the disposal of his trust to man, or
to control and withdraw that trust, or any
portion of it, as seems fit to his discretion ?

It may, perhaps, appear at first that I have
dwelt too long on these preliminary points ;
but I have thought it better, where human
covetousness and selfishness are so deeply
concerned, to go to the root of the matter, to
lay plainly before the mind God's full right
and claim to all which we call ours, that we
may be the less disposed to contest what his
ordinary providence requires at our hands,
viz., the application of a portion of our goods
to his especial cause.

22 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTER

"THOU MADEST HIM TO HAVE DOMINION OVER
THE WORKS OF THY HANDS."

I HAVE hitherto considered God's claims in
their widest, though at the same time their
true and legitimate, extent, and have shown
that they extend to the possession and dis-
posal of our all. This should never be lost
sight of by us, no matter how little God may
seem disposed to insist on his fullest right.
That he has insisted, and does at times insist,
and may at any time he pleases insist upon it,
with ourselves or others, with few or many,
or all, is testified equally in the Book of
Providence and the pages of Revelation:
while the submission of our minds to this his
sovereign authority, and the determination
to bend to his will in this respect, if called
upon, seems essential to the Christian char-
acter, according to that saying of our Lord,
" Whosoever he be of yon that forsaketh not
all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
But there is a wide difference in God's
ordinary providence between his claims,
however rightful, and his requirements from

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 23

man. He lias from time to time, indeed, put
forward his fullest claim to man's all, lest it
should be forgotten, and at last perhaps de-
nied; just as he has, from time to time,
wrought miracles to show, along with other
reasons, that he has not resigned to what is
called the course of nature his control over
her laws. But in his usual course he does
not act thus. Of his trust to man he leaves
him a large portion to use for his own especial
comfort and benefit. Having endowed him
with reason and judgment, he has left much
at his discretion. Wishing his happiness, he
has bestowed his gifts to produce and to in-
crease it, and has given him "richly all things
to enjoy." He has, indeed, forbidden the
abuse of the smallest portion of his goods ;
the spending of any, however trifling a pro-
portion, in any way that would militate
against his glory or the advancement of his
cause in the world ; and has, in fact, required
as much in that portion which man spends
upon himself as in that which he devotes
especially to his Maker and Redeemer, that
" all should be done with an eye to the glory
of God." "With these important considera-
tions, which must never be forgotten by the
Christian, he has left him at liberty in the
use of a large proportion of his trust.

24: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

Thus has God treated his creature man in
a liberal spirit. He has not fettered him
with restrictions meeting him at every step.
Having gifted him with a noble capacity and
large susceptibilities of enjoyment, he has
placed him in a situation, and allowed him
a freedom, which affords ample scope for
both. It was not a mockery of his real con-
dition to describe him as made. "in God's
image" in the matter of dominion. And
truly as well as beautifully has David cele-
brated the power bestowed by God upon his
creatures, " Thou madest him to have do-
minion over the works of thy hands ; thou
hast put all things under his feet."

But what we do contend for now is this,
that to man's discretionary use of God's trust
to him there is, and has always been, a limit.
He may expatiate in a wide field, but not a
boundless one. He shall indeed feel him-
self at freedom in the use and enjoyment of
temporal blessings, but there shall be at the
same time something to remind him that
there is One above him to whom these
things, after all, belong, and by whom they
have been intrusted to him. The wide ocean
might seem to be without a master, rolling
its huge billows where it pleased, were it
not met' by that restraining shore those

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 25

bars and doors which he hath placed who
said to it, "Thus far shalt thoii come, and
no farther : and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed." And just so might man imagine
himself without a superior the original, not
the delegated, lord of this lower world, un-
less he too were met with a bound beyond
which he might not pass ; unless, in the dis-
posal of his property, there were a portion
placed out of his discretion, of which God
had said, "This may not be used for thy
pleasure ; it is mine."

JEven in Eden it was so. Even to man,
just come from his Maker's hands, the voice,
scarce silent, that had called all things into'
being, the impress of Heaven's workman-
ship still fresh and vivid upon the creation,
even to unfallen Adam, this limit was placed.
The fruit of his fairest trees, and the seventh
part of his time, were hallowed. He might
not touch the one, nor infringe upon the

i other. They were the peculiar property of
Him who had placed him in the garden to
dress it and to keep it the sign and token

[ of his inalienable sovereignty.

I If this were the case with sinless man,

i how much more does sinful man require it?
" Who is lord over us ?" is the suggestion of
the natural heart. Deny it, or disguise it as

26 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

they will, practical independence of God is
tlie darling aim of the natural man, in all
his ways, in the use of all his talents, and,
among them, of his substance. To use it
just as he pleases himself, on his pleasures,
on his vanities, subservient to the attainment
of power, or, as in the miser's case, to hoard
and worship it for itself, is the determination
and the habit of the unregenerate mind. To
use it as God pleases with a thankful spirit
for his own purposes, with as thankful a
spirit when expended on objects foreign to
himself this is not in all his thoughts. And
this tendency remains in the merely regen-
erate. Checked, conquered, crucified, it is
still there, perhaps, to his dying day, a lurk-
ing, treacherous foe. Too often it insensibly
influences the conduct and thoughts of God's
saints. Unseen and unsuspected, it breathes
a noxious vapor, deadening the liberality,
and checking each generous impulse; or,
watching its opportunity, it comes forth and
lords it for a time with all its former sway.
How absolutely necessary, then, that there
be a perpetual check to this universal ten-
dency! a perpetual reminder to man that
he is not a sovereign, but a subject ; that his
goods are not his own, but God's : and this
is found in that perpetual ordinance in force

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 27

in patriarchal, and Jewish, and Christian
times alike, whereby God has reserved for
his own especial glory and service a portion
of that which in his bounty he has bestowed
on man. This is the rent which reminds the
tenant that lie is not owner in fee ; this is
the interest which reminds the borrower that
the principal belongs not to him ; this is the
tribute-money, which reminds a subject na-
tion that it is not independent ; this is God's
share, to remind his creature that all belongs
to him.

What that proportion may be is not the
subject of the present chapter, but will be dis-
cussed in those that follow. All that is here
insisted on is this, which every page almost
of the Old and New Testament asserts, that
while to God belongs our all, and while at
times he insists on this his claim, he at all
times requires from us a portion of our goods,
a tribute to his sovereignty, and a means of
spreading his name and glory throughout the
world.

28 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

OHAPTEE IY.

" THE WAY OF MAN IS NOT IN HIMSELF."

I. HAVE thus prepared the way for the con-
sideration of the chief point of inquiry in our
essay, "What is the proportion of his means
which the Christian should give to God?
The Lord's right to a portion, or to all, will
not now be contested ; nor will it be denied
that he actually claims a part. It remains
to be seen if we have any sufficient reason
to decide what that part should be. Has
God left the decision of this important mat-
ter to each man's conscience and judgment,
or has he made known his own will thereon ?
I do not think that any a prioi4 reasoning
can determine this point, at least with such
as are disposed to reduce God's claims to as
small a compass as they can ; but I. certainly
think that the weight of antecedent proba-
bility is in favor of his having done so. Let
us remember, at this stage of our inquiry,
that the gift of any portion, no matter what,
of our goods to the bestower of them does
not appear by any means to be a natural
suggestion of the mind, as some might sup-

MEASURE OF CHBISTTAN" LIBERALITY. 29

pose. To propitiate an offended Being with,
presents does, indeed, appear natural to man ;
but it was not with, such a view at all that
the men of enlightened religion, such as
Abraham, offered their gifts to God. They
regarded their Maker as their friend, and
gave him a portion of their substance in
thankful acknowledgment that it was he
who had given it all. Now, if we reflect,
we will see that this is by no means an ob-
vious conclusion to come to. The recipient
of bounty with ourselves does not feel him-
self called on to return a portion of that
bounty to the giver. And far less would he
feel the necessity of such return when it was
God who was the bestower, from the con-
sideration that he, who had all things in his
power, could not possibly want anything at
his creatures' hands. If, then, it be but rea-
sonable to suppose that it was God who first
claimed from the creature a portion of his
gifts, it seems equally reasonable to suppose
that he mentioned what that portion was to
be. This is the natural inference, unless we
are to suppose that a/m/thmg^ no matter how
mean, and trifling, and worthless, is suffi-
cient for God. But few, I imagine, will
suppose this, who reflect upon the goodness
and greatness of God as seen in the crea-

30 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

tion ; and most assuredly none will allow it,
who will learn God's character from his own
account of it in Scripture, where they find
him rejecting with disdain the unsuitable
acknowledgment of his mercies. If it be,
then, a matter of importance what is the
suitable proportion that man should give,
does it hot seem most likely that he, who
could best determine this, and alone with
authority to determine it, should, indeed,
have done so? Man were else left to a
painful uncertainty. The scrupulous mind,
anxious to please God, could never be cer-
tain of having done so, and would, in many
instances, even when far exceeding the ex-
pected proportion, be yet subject to per-
plexity and uneasiness ; while in the case of,
we fear, the vast majority of mankind, the
fact of this portion being left entirely to
their discretion would be made the pretext
of their reducing it to so small a point that
the gift, so far from honoring God, would
rather be an affront to his name.

For these and other reasons, I think that
the probability is, that God would himself
decide this matter, and declare plainly what
proportion of man's substance he expected
as a suitable tribute to his sovereignty, a
becoming token of our gratitude, and .a stif-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 31

ficiency to uphold his worship in the world.
But on this point I will not argue any further.
To some it may appear of force ; to others it
may seem destitute of strength. All that I
will require to be conceded is, that at any
rate no antecedent improbability lies against
my argument. The great and deciding ar-
guments must be drawn from other sources ;
and, beyond all others, from the inquiry,
" "What hath God said ?" Has he spoken
to us in that Book which is the lamp to our
feet and the lantern to our paths, or has he
been silent there? If he has spoken there,
clearly then the controversy is decided with
those to whom this essay is addressed,
namely, such as take the Bible for their" one
infallible guide ; if he has not spoken, I
should despair of deciding it by any other
reasoning. But that he has done so, not
merely for one time, dispensation, or people,
but for all times and dispensations, that he
has done so for us Christians, as he did for
his ancient people Israel, is the conclusion
to which a careful examination of Scripture
has led me, and which I will endeavor to
prove in the following pages.

In pursuing my inquiry, I will first advert
to the fact of a certain proportion being
found among a great variety of nations as

32 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

the measure of their gifts to God ; I will
then examine what the Old Testament has
said upon this subject, not confining my-
self to any one part of it, but examining its
several notices upon the subject; satisfied
that each throws light upon and confirms
the rest, and that the whole taken together
Avith the evidence of the New Testament
leads to one incontrovertible conclusion.
The conclusion is, that God requires from
men in general a tenth-part of that increase
with which he blesses them to be spent in
his especial cause ; while from some more
peculiarly favored he looks for more : the
gift of the former portion being to be re-
garded as a positive duty, that of the latter
as the free-will offering of loving and grate-
ful hearts, left in its amount to each accord-?
ing as he is disposed to act, according as
circumstances seem to call for an extended
liberality, or his own generous and grateful
impulses, quickened by a sense of God's ex-
ceeding goodness, lead him to bestow it.
Our review of the Old Testament will lead
me to dwell chiefly on four points, namely,
the gift of a tenth by Abraham to Melchize-
dek, Jacob's vow of a tenth to God, God's
requirement of a tenth from his people 1
Israel, and that people's free-will offerings

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 33

on extraordinary occasions over and above
their tenth.

And may He, whose office it is to guide
to truth, by enlightening the understanding,
and purifying the wills of his people, guide
us in pur inquiry on this important subject,
enable us to perceive what is revealed to us,
and to regulate our practice thereby.

3

34: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LEBERALITYi

CHAPTEK Y.

"IS HE THE GOD OF THE JEWS ONLY?"

THAT God has in the case of his people Israel
required the tenth of man's substance to be
given for his service, and expended as the
circumstances of that dispensation required,
is not disputed. The first question, then,
that meets us is, When did he first require
it? "Was this, as a divine institution, first
imposed on a particular nation, and first or-
dained in the Mosaic law, or does it date
from a much higher antiquity? Do we
draw our first great argument with Chris-
tians, that it is their duty to devote a tenth
to their Lord from the fact of their being the
successors of Israel, to whom it was a duty,
or can we appeal to an earlier authority,
before Moses gave the law from Sinai, or
Abraham was separated from the Gentile
world ? It will be perceived, that I rest my
great reliance in this question on the divine
instittttion of this proportion of a tenth. I
certainly do so. I am fully persuaded, that
if it has not this foundation to rest on, other
arguments, however forcible with individ-

MEASUBE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 35

uals, will have no overpowering weight to
silence the objections or overcome the natural
selfishness of the mass of men, even of men
professing godliness.

The mere fact that this or that person,
however wise and pious, gave a tenth of his
goods to God, and that God was pleased
with his servant for thus honoring him with
his substance, will not, I think, come home
with such conclusive power to the Chris-
tian's conscience as will make him say that
he is to do the same, as an 'act of duty ex-
pected from him by his God. Man's inge-
nuity, quickened by his selfishness, will, in
such a case, straightway set to work to dis-
cover some differing circumstances between
such individuals and himself, as will, in his
opinion, fully excuse him from the necessity
of imitation. He- will say, suppose, of Abra-
ham and Jacob, "These were men who at-
tained to far greater wealth than I am pos-
sessed of, nor had they in those simple ages
the same pressing calls upon their means
which dayly meet me ; I am, therefore, no
more bound by their voluntary act to give a
tenth, than I am bound to give a half be-
cause Zaccheus gave one, or to give the
whole of my substance, because the first
Christians of Jerusalem did so." And if he

36 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

is reminded that Abraham and Jacob's ac-
knowledgment to God were blessed by him>
he can also reply that Zaccheus's conduct
was approved by Christ, and that of the
saints of Jerusalem mentioned by an in-
spired writer as indicating a love and a self-
denial beyond all praise. Men will, in fact,
find so many reasons, to them at least plausi-
ble and convincing, why they are not bound
by such voluntary acts of individuals, that,
while they are free to confess that God ex-
pects from them, too, a portion of their sub-
stance, they will wholly deny any necessity
of that portion being a tenth. And so we
shall be forced to leave the matter to each
man's judgment and discretion ; and while
some few will not feel this to be any release,
many more will seize upon it as a full ex-
cuse for the miserable share they give to
God, which, perhaps, they call "honoring
him with their substance," but which is far
more like dishonoring him with their nig-
gardliness.

I, therefore, place my main reliance in
this argument on the proportions of a tenth
being of divine institution. Other argu-
ments need not be discarded, but in their
place may come in with such force as they
possess. But it is on God's ordinance of the

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 37

thing that I rely, and without it I should
despair of establishing the matter. Kow
we have without any controversy his insti-
tution of this proportion in the Mosaic ritual,
and even if we could trace the institution no
higher if we were forced to allow that here
first was the payment of a tenth to God im-
posed as a duty upon each member of his
Church, even from this, as I trust will be
seen in a succeeding chapter, can be shown
that the same proportion is required from
the members of the Christian community.
But I apprehend that a far earlier origin
may reasonably be concluded for the divine
institution of a tenth that it probably dates
from the very first promulgation of fallen
man's religion, that it certainly dates from
times long anterior to that of the law of
Moses.

The argument is one to which no claim of
originality can be made, and is simply this :
We find that, as well among the ancestors
of the Jewish nation as among Gentile na-
tions remote from and unconnected with
each other, the payment of a tenth for pur-
poses of religion was a recognized custom,
pointing clearly to a common authoritative
origin, which could be no other than the
command of God. To give instances of this

38 MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

custom would far exceed the limits of the
present essay ; they may be found in detail
in the learned writings of Spelman and Sel-
den, who hare traced back the custom of
dedicating tithes to religious purposes to a
very remote antiquity. The statements of
two of our ablest writers on this point are so
forcible that I will quote them in preference
to any language of my own. " "Whatever
custom," says Dr. Kennicott, " has prevailed
over the world, among nations the most op-
posite in polity and customs in general,
nations not united by commerce or commu-
nication, (when that custom has nothing in
nature or the reason of things to give it
birth, and establish to itself such a curren-
cy,) must be derived from, some revelation,
which revelation may in certain places have
been forgotten, though the custom intro-
duced by and founded on such revelation
still continued ; and, further, this revelation
must have been made antecedent to the dis-
persion at Babel, when all mankind, being,
but one nation, and living together in the
form of one large family, were of one lan-
guage and governed by the same laws and
customs." Collyer, in his "Sacred Inter-
preter," writes to the same effect: "From
Pagan writers we learn," he says, "that

MEASURE OF CHKISTIAN LIBERALITY. 39

several nations, very far distant from each
other, in different parts of the world, and,
as it seems, without the least acquaintance
or commerce one with another, observed
this custom. Now, since this proportion of
one in ten is certainly indifferent in itself,
any more than one in seven or eight, it is
reasonable to believe that this custom of
paying tithe, like that of sacrificing, had
some divine direction for it ; and that it was
derived from Adam to !Noah, and from him
to his posterity, till at length, at the disper-
sion of Babel, it spread over all the world."
The conclusion of Kennicott and Collyer is
surely the conclusion of unprejudiced reason.
The wide-spread establishment of a custom,
which does not certainly suggest itself natu-
rally to the mind, and which requires of
man the surrender of what he values most,
can be accounted for in no other way. Even
if men in different places might agree in
giving a portion of their goods to God, they
would not all hit upon the same proportion.
Some would give more, others less, and
probably no two would be agreed. It may,
perhaps, somewhat serve to confirm this ar-
gument, to show its force in other cases.
For instance, the divine origin of the insti-
tution of sacrifice is generally admitted

40 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

among Christians. Now what is the proof
on which men rely for it ? "We read indeed
in Scripture of the offering of sacrifices
from the very earliest times, but in no part
are we told that God had first appointed
that mode of worship. Its origin is not told
us in the Book of Genesis, nor does any sub-
sequent scripture refer to it. Its divine in-
stitution is received chiefly on these grounds,
that while there appears no reason for sup-
posing that the propriety of such a mode of
worship would naturally suggest itself to the
minds of all men, there has yet never been
a nation, however remote or ancient, among
whom this practice has not prevailed . Hence
we learn to refer it to one common authori-
tative origin, to attribute it to the com-
mand of God to mankind, when mankind
formed but a single family, which family,
in its subsequent increases, separations, and
migrations, would carry into every land the
original tradition, more or less impaired, or
altered, or obscured by the various phases
of the superstitious and cruel idolatries,
which everywhere, alas ! overspread and
debased the primitive religion of mankind.
I think, then, that we are justified in con-
cluding that the origin of the giving of a
tenth was God's, express command, a con-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY, 41

elusion reasonable even at this stage of our
argument, and which, as it appears to me,
when taken in connection with the succeed-
ing proofs, will amount to an evidence con-
vincing and entire. I will now direct
attention to the declarations of Scripture on
this head, where we will find every notice
of it, and every inference deducible from its
notices, in full and perfect harmony with
our argument.

4:2 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

OHAPTEE VI.

"OF ALL THAT THOU SHALT GIVE ME, I WILL

SURELY GIVE THE TENTH TJNTO THEE.

"

have reason to conclude from Scripture
that every important part of human wor-
ship and obedience has had its origin, not
from man, but directly from God himself.
Man did not form his religion from the dic-
tates of his own reason and conscience, but
received it by revelation ; and it has ever
formed one grand distinction between false
religions of every shade and the true, that
the former have, in greater or less degree,
sprung from what St. Paul calls " will-wor-
ship," while the latter has adhered to the
declared will of God, neither daring to add
to nor detract therefrom. True worship
never sprang from the earth, and ascended
with acceptance to heaven ; but from heaven
she came to earth, and thence went back, a
welcome visitant to her original home, the
bosom of God.

~No worship of man's own choosing, that
is, no heresy, was ever acceptable to God ;
to all such he replies, " "Who hath required

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY". 43

this at your hands?" So persuaded was
Mr. Halletsof the force of this, that he does
not hesitate to pronounce that God's accept-
ance of Abel's offering was " a demonstra-
tion " of its being in obedience to the divine
commandment, according to that obvious
maxim of all true religion, " In vain do they
worship me, teaching for doctrines the com-
mandments of men." Even apparently
minute and unimportant matters have not
been thought by God unworthy of notice, or
the deviation from them, undeserving of conr
demnation. How minute, for example, are
the directions of the Levitical law, and yet
how sorely was their infraction punished, as
witness the account of Korah and his com-
pany, of Uzzah, and many others. And
hence we have Scriptural reason for suppos-
ing that the important matter of the propor-
tion of man's acknowledgment to God was
not left undetermined, that believers, in
the early days of the world, did not offer
their tenth to God from their own sponta-
neous impulse, but in obedience to a known
commandment.. And if it be said that this
argument might hold good for the direction
of 'a portion of man's substance being given
to God, but that God would, probably, leave
the exact proportion to each believer's own

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

discretion, we answer, that he has himself
shown that the proportion of the gift is not
beneath his notice, for in the Mosaic law he
has ordained a tenth.

The institution of the Sabbath day affords
a parallel case, and one bearing very forcibly,
as it appears to me, on our present inquiry.
In acknowledgment of the great fact of the
creation, and of the sovereign power of the
Creator over his creature, God would have
man to dedicate a portion of his time to his
service. Did he then leave this portion un-
defined? Had he done so, humanly speak-
ing, we would not have had a Sabbath day
at all. Men, left to their own judgment,
would have varied from each other in the
portion set apart. Indolence and aversion
to spiritual things would narrow and curtail
that portion, till, at length, the very sem-
blance .of it would have vanished from
among men. But he strictly defined its
duration in the beginning, and, on the giv-
ing of the law to Israel, repeated that defi-
nition; and so we Christians have the
Sabbath day, the sweet season of bodily
rest and spiritual activity, whose observance
is the great means of upholding religion in
the world, and which ever points the hopes
of the way-worn pilgrim of the cross to his

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 4:5

eternal rest. If, then, the proportion of
man's time that was to be specially dedi-
cated to God has been dictated by him, is it
not in strict analogy that he should also
have defined the proportion of man's sub-
stance? And if this, and the offering of
sacrifices, and, in fact, every other portion
of worship, were revealed from on high, this
is surely a Scriptural argument for con-
cluding that this part alone was not left
iinrevealed, in what way and with what
proportion of his goods man should honor
the Creator and Giver of all !

Before we come to the consideration of
the tenth prescribed in the Mosaic law, we
have two extremely important references
made to them in the Bible: the first is
Abram's gift of a tenth to Melchizedek, and
the second Jacob's vow of the same pro-
portion to God. To both of them particular
attention is due. The first of them, in all its
circumstances, forms one of the most mar-
velous episodes in Scripture history. It
brings forward, for a moment, upon the
stage that man of mysterious origin and
existence Melchizedek, to whom David
makes one glorious allusion, and of whom
Paul speaks in language which, while it
heightens our veneration, increases our won-

46 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

der, till, lost in amazement, we are ready to
muse in our hearts, as the people did of
John, "whether he were indeed the Christ
or not." However this be, the transaction is
an important one in our argument. It agrees
most completely with our hypothesis of the
divine origin of the tenth, and with no other;
and the time when it occurred, and the per-
sons concerned in it, make it of peculiar force.

Chedorlaorner and his confederate kings
make war on the king of Sodom and his
associates, and prevail in battle. The vic-
tors seize upon the persons and goods of the
vanquished, and with them, of Lot and his
goods, and proceed with them to their own
country. Abram, hearing of his nephew's
captivity, arms his dependents probably
few in number compared with those against
whom they went- overtakes them on their
return, defeats them, and recovers Lot and
all the persons and goods that had been car-
ried off. To God he owed his victory, and
to God was due an acknowledgment of his
aid. Accordingly, returning, he meets God's,
high-priest, and to him he pays a tenth of
all. the spoils.

Now, every part of this transaction has
force. The goods, let it be remembered,
had been all of them the property of those

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 4:7

to whose rescue Abram had gone ; none of
them had belonged to the party of Chedor-
laomer, and, consequently, Abram's only
claim to them lay in his having recovered
them in battle. This did give him a claim,
which the king of Sodom was willing to
acknowledge, but which Abram wholly re-
fused to profit by for himself: "I will not
take," he said, "anything that is thine."
ISTow this, I think, places his gift to Mel-
chizedek in a far stronger light than it would
have been in, had we viewed it as simply
having been an acknowledgment to God for
having restored to him his own property, <v
for having placed within his hands the prop-
erty of the kings he had subdued. He had
in the transaction gained nothing for him-
self; he will accept of nothing for himself;
he disowns his own claim to any portion of
the spoils. But he evidently knew that God
had his claim to a part of them, in token of
his right to all; and the only use he will
make of a victory, which had placed all in
his possession, is to pay to God his portion
of a tenth : the rest he returns to the original
owners. This fact, I think, inconsistent with
any other theory than that here advocated
that the gift of a tenth was at this time of
divine appointment. Had the goods been

48 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

his own, it might have the appearance of a
voluntary act of gratitude ; but, since he re-
fused any personal right in them for himself,
it has all the appearance of being an act of
known and recognized duty. If they had
been his own, he might, doubtless, have
given to God what proportion of his goods
he pleased ; but, as they were not his own,
he would scarcely have been generous with
another's property. He surrendered his own
claim, but he could not surrender God's.
The tenth which he gave him he must have
felt was not his to withhold, that it was the
jjfeculiar property of him to whom all be-
longed.

With this agrees every other circumstance
of the narrative. Thus the manner in which
it is spoken of is just that in which a thing
of usual and expected occurrence would be
mentioned. "Were it new or unusual, some
notice of the novelty might be expected, as
we are told in Scripture of the invention and
introduction of other and far less important
matters. But this is treated of as a matter
of course. Again, Abram's gift is accepted
by Melchizedek plainly as his right. As
God's priest he blesses Abram, and as God's
priest he receives tithes from Abram. The
one appears just as much a part of his office

MEASUBB OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKALITY. 4:9

as the other. Wow, this gift of a tenth was
certainly an act of religion. It was not re-
quired by Melchizedek from any poverty of
circumstances, for he was a king, and prob-
ably a richer man than Abram. It was
purely an act of religious homage, and so
St. Paul reckons it in the seventh chapter of
Hebrews.

The same apostle's comparison of Mel-
chizedek with the Levitical priesthood, and
his assertion of the superiority of the former
over the latter, absolutely requires us to be-
lieve that the payment of a tenth by Abram
to him was not a voluntary act, which he
might have withheld at pleasure, but was
the discharge of positive obligation. If we
consider his argument with a little attention
we will not fail to see this. The Levitical
priesthood, ty the comnumd of G-od, received
tithes of their people. 'Their command to do
so is noticed by the apostle in the fifth verse
as their privilege, and is certainly a most
important part of it. But it follows as cer-
tainly that Melchizedek had the same claim
to a tenth from Abram which they had from
the Jews, that is, a divine command. If
you deny this, and say that Abram's gift of
a tenth was purely voluntary that Melchiz-
edek had no positive right to this propor-

50 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

tion that it might have been withheld from
him without any infringement on his just
claims, you certainly place him in this re-
spect on an inferior footing to the priesthood
of Aaron, and take away one of those grounds
on which St. Paul claims for him a superi-
ority over Levi namely, his right to a tenth
from Abram. This latter argument appears
a conclusive one, and seems to follow from
the apostle's comparison of the two orders
of priesthood in the seventh chapter of He-
brews. For surely, if a tenth were Levi's
right by divine ordinance, while Melchize-
dek had no such right at all, he is in this
respect inferior to Levi, and Paul's argument
from his reception of a tenth from Abram an
inconclusive one.

This case being then established, the time
of the occurrence and the persons engaged
in it render it of peculiar value. It took
place before the covenant or circumcision
was ordained ; before the first step was taken
toward the formation of that Jewish consti-
tution which was developed under Moses;
and, consequently, wholly free from the in-
ference (a. groundless one, as we shall after-
ward see) that, being a part of the Mosaic
dispensation, it has been done away in Christ.
Again, to whom was this tenth paid? To

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN" LIBERALITY. 51

Melchizedek. I will not inquire here who
Melchizedek was. It is beside our object,
and perhaps beyond our power to determine.
It is sufficient to say, that of all the person-
ages of the Old Testament he is preemi-
nently the type of Christ. Neither Moses,
the great lawgiver of Israel, nor Aaron, their
high-priest, nor Joshua, the renowned cap-
tain to lead them to their promised Canaan,
nor David, triumphant over his people's
enemies, nor Solomon, reigning in glory
over a united and peaceful community, are
to be compared as types of Christ with that
great king of righteousness and peace, who
was also, in a sense that none before or since,
save the glorious Antitype, have been the
priest of God.

It was then to a person who was the pe-
culiar type of the Head of the Christian dis-
pensation, and in times peculiarly prophetical
of the Christian era, as well as at a period
distinguished by a plain mark of separation
from all that might be distinctive of Judaism,
we find this payment of a tenth to Grod in
force by his own command. When we come
to speak of the Christian's obligation in this
respect to God we will draw our inference
from this important transaction, and will
now pass on to consider another of equal

52 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

value in our argument the celebrated vow
of the patriarch Jacob.

With what deep delight does the believer's
mind dwell on the vision of Bethel! Sin
had placed an infinite distance between
heaven and earth, but here we find the com-
munication of these two reopened, and sweet
communion established. The scene is, in-
deed, a bright spot amid a dark world a
green, smiling region within a surrounding
desert a transfiguration scene, which lights
up the earth again with its former bright-
ness, and points to the time when it shall be
said of it with truth, " It is good to be here."
.It draws back the mind to that golden age
when God walked with his newly-formed
creature as with a friend; and draws it on
to the restoration of that age when the be-
liever shall see heaven opened, and the an-
gels of God ascending and descending upon
the Son of man. But our argument confines
us to a single feature in this transaction.
Jacob, flying from his brother, lies down at
the close of day to refresh himself in sleep.
Alone he could not be, for he was the ob-
ject of that care which never slumbers, and
which selected the time when he seemed
most friendless to display itself most fully.
In his vision of the night he beholds the in-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 53

habitants of heaven, and heaven's great
King, and hears from his lips the assuring
promise of provision for " the life that now
is, as well as for that which was to come."
He awakes from sleep impressed with the
certainty, that this was, indeed, a "heaven-
sent dream." The spirit of Jacob was the
free spirit of all God's children. They bar-
gain not to be admitted to his favor, but
having "freely received they freely give;"
having been bought with a precious price,
and loved with an endless love, they devote
themselves and theirs to their redeeming
God. Such was the spirit of Jacob. What
he should do for God in the heavenly rest to
which he looked forward after his pilgrimage,
he leaves for the arrival of that rest to de-
termine : what he should do in the present
time while his day lasted, like a wise man
he determines. "The Lord shall be my
God," is his resolution, " and this stone
which I have set up for a pillar shall be
God's house; and of all that thou shalt give
me I will give the tenth part unto thee."

Our object confines us to noticing only the
latter part of Jacob's vow namely, the de-
voting a tenth of all his future increase to
God. Having shown already, and particu-
larly in the case of Abram, that the giving

54: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

a tenth of our goods to God was in conform-
ity with the divine command, we view Ja-
cob's conduct in the same light. We regard
him not as performing what he esteemed a
mere voluntary act, but as discharging a
sacred obligation; as making that return to
God for his bounty which he knew to be ex-
pected from him. If we have consented
to the reasoning in Abram's case we can
scarcely doubt that Jacob, his grandson, and
of course acquainted with his conduct, acted
on the same motives. He is a link connect-
ing together evangelical and legal times-
the days of Melchizedek and those of Moses ;
exhibiting the harmonious action of believers
in varying dispensations in obedience to an
unchanged commandment. Regarded thus,
it places our subject in, perhaps, a fuller and
plainer light, more divested of circumstances
not essentially connected with it, than any
other similar transaction ; and certainly sup-
plies some matters of moment, which we
could not with certainty have inferred from
Abram's offering of a tenth.

And, first, Jacob's vow is a vow of all
future blessing, and, therefore, to be con-
tinued through his lifetime. We might, per-
haps, have supposed that Abram's offering
this proportion was an isolated act on his

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 55

'- '

part, called forth, on a particular occasion.
K sucli were our opinion, Jacob's vow cor-
rects it. This proportion was God's due at
all periods of the believer's earthly existence;
whether at times when God more plainly
and more remarkably opened his hand and
filled him with abundance, or when in the
ordinary course of his providence he " blessed
his basket and his store." It was to be called
forth, not merely on such occasions as the
victory of a few over many, which restored
to its owners what had seemed lost beyond
recovery; but was also to be the return for
those more unobtrusive but equally eloquent
proofs of the divine goodness, which nature
in her revolving course presents that sun
which gives life to the creation, those dews
which refresh earth's parched surface, those
"rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
which fill man's heart with food and glad-
ness." Such is one lesson we learn from Ja-
cob's vow " Of all that thou shalt give me,
I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

Again, Jacob's vow is to be regarded as
of importance in this respect, that no part
of it was for the use of a priesthood. Mel-
chizedek had gone as he had come ; the
priesthood of Levi was not yet in being ; the
priest of Jacob's household was Jacob him-

56 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LEBEKALITIf.

self. Yet now, as well as before or after,
was this proportion of a tenth paid to God.
Now, this fact is of value. It separates the
matter wholly from man's jurisdiction, and
places it in its simple original light, as an
act of pure, unmixed homage to God. When
there was no ministry to support, it was yet
God's claim, and accorded to him. I do,
therefore, value this fact highly. Had the
tenth never been given save in connection
with a ministry, this might with some minds
have obscured its great primary object. But
here nothing stands between the offerer and
the Being to whom he offers no class or
caste may presume to say, "This is ours, it
was ordained for us ;" for here we see it to
be God's and God's only, ordained for his
sole glory. ISTow, I am not arguing against
the claim of God's ministry to a portion of
this tenth ; far from it. We will see, that in
its distribution, they are in Christian as in
Jewish times to be considered as entitled to
maintenance from it. I am simply laying
down this fact, drawn from Jacob's case, that
the institution of a tenth had this for its first,
and I may say its sole object, the glorifying
God in the offering to him a portion of that
which all came from him, and which all, in
fact, belonged to him. What God wills us

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 57

to do with it, how to use it, and in what pro-
portion, is another question altogether. But
this we may be sure of, that it was for God
it was ordained, that he might be glorified in
that which was his.

The last consideration, that in Jacob's time
no portion of the tenth was for the use of a
priesthood, while it was yet paid to God,
helps to make certain what we have prev-
iously shown to be at any rate probable, that
this custom dates from the beginning ; that
when the Sabbath-day was hallowed, and
sacrifices ordained, then, too, a tenth was
fixed on by God as the portion which man
was to return to him. It might have been
supposed, from the instances of Melchizedek
and Levi, that this proportion was ordained
for a priesthood, and therefore had its origin
on the first formation of a separate ministry.
!Nbw, we do not reckon the heads of families
to have been a separate order analogous to
the Jewish priesthood or the Christian min-
istry. Melchizedek seems to have been the
first to exercise by divine appointment a
ministerial care over those not connected
with him by the ties of family, and some
might thence imagine that in his time the
gift of a tenth was introduced. But the case
of Jacob overturns this idea. Required in

58 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

liis time without any reference to a priest-
hood, there was the same reason, at all pre-
vious times for its existence ; and therefore
we may infer, that it was the ordinance of
God, not merely when Melchizedek walked
upon the earth, or the sons of Aaron were
sustained "by it, but also when Adam lived
by the sweat of his brow, and his children
pursued their occupations of shepherds and
husbandmen. I know not if this throws any
light upon the much-vexed question of Cain
and Abel's offering. It was on the part of
both an act of religious homage. Cain seems
to have expected as his right that his offer-
ing would have been accepted, which he
could scarcely have done if he had not
known it to have been commanded. Was
not this his tenth, which the reason even of
the natural man allows to be due to God,
and which therefore Cain offered, while he
disdained such an offering as spoke of atone-
ment? Abel in the firstlings of his flock
paid his tenth, and also confessed his faith
in a sinner's religion, which is the religion
of atonement. Cain in the fruit of the
ground paid his tenth too, but he would
make no confession of sin, acknowledge no
need of a Saviour a type of those later
Pharisees, who would not so much as de-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 59

fraud God of the tithe of their garden herbs,
while they disdained the atonement of Christ
and shed his innocent blood. To this the
language of God to Cain seems fully to agree :
"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accept-
ed ?" that is, "If thou art righteous, thou hast
indeed made me the only offering I could
require an acknowledgment of my sover-
eignty and a return for my bounty;" but
"if thou doest not well," if thou be not right-
eous, "thy offering is not sufficient, thy sin
still lies at thy door unremoved, and I can
be pleased with no work of thine ;" or, if we
prefer Archbishop Magee's translation, who
for "sin" reads "sin-offering," then God, in
plain language, tells him that for the removal
of his unrighteousness animal sacrifice was
required, typical of the efficacious sacrifice
of Christ.

60 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

OHAPTEE YK

" ALL THE TITHE OF THE LAND IS THE LORD'S."

HAVING considered the cases of Abram and
Jacob, we come next to consider that of
the Jewish tithe. Its institution by God is
not disputed ; the only inquiry here can be,
Was this his first institution of it ? If we
have consented to the preceding argument,
we shall have come to the conclusion that it
was not. But here I would premise, that I
do not rest the case solely upon the conces-
sion of this point. If it be allowed, then in-
deed my argument must be admitted, that a
tenth is that proportion which a Christian
should give to God. But if it be disallow-
ed, if it be supposed that the first divine
appointment of a tenth dates no higher than
the time of Moses, even on this lower ground
I am of opinion that the matter may satis-
factorily be established.

I do not, however, view the matter in this
light at all. Agreeably to the whole tenor
of our past reflections, I regard the Mosaic
institution of a tenth as but the continuance
of God's ancient claim with a new applica-

MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 61

tion of it for the pin-poses of the Mosaic
ritual. I regard it, not as a new ordinance,
but the republication and assertion of an old
one. For the proof of this I rely, of course,
on what has been advanced in the previous
chapters, and if the arguments there have
been sound, the matter is placed beyond
dispute. But I will, nevertheless, proceed
to show, that every fair inference drawn
from the mention of the subject in the law
of Moses is in full conformity with the con-
clusion that has been already come to. In
our inquiry I will not encumber the ques-
tion by a reference to any of the Jewish
offerings or sacrifices except that tenth which
was claimed by God as his portion, and by
him appropriated to the maintenance of the
Levites and the service of the sanctuary.

And, first, I am glad to strengthen my
position by the authority of a great reasoner,
and one who has done good service in the
defence of the vital doctrines of the Chris-
tian faith, I mean the late Archbishop
Magee. In his great work on the Atone-
ment, he uses an argument in support of the
divine origin of sacrifices which applies in
its full force, with merely a change of some
of the names, to the establishment of the
divine origin of a tenth : speaking of sacri-

62 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

fices lie says, " That the institution was of
divine ordinance may, in the first instance,
be reasonably inferred from the strong and
sensible attestation of the divine acceptance
in the case of Abel, again in that of ISfoah,
afterward withal of Abraham, and also by
the systematic establishment of them by the
same divine authority in the dispensation of
Moses." For the names here mentioned, if
we will use those of Abram and Jacob,
Magee's argument stands in its entire force
for our conclusion. That Abram's offering
of a tenth was accepted by God we know
from his .having received the blessing of
Melchizedek. . That Jacob's vow of a tenth
was equally so, we know from the abundant
blessing which God bestowed upon him.; to
use his own simple, expressive words in his
prayer to God before his meeting with
Esau, " With his staff he passed over Jor-
dan, and now he was become two bands."
While the appointment .of a tenth stands on
the same footing in the Mosaic law with
that of sacrifice, namely, a divine command ;
if the argument holds good for sacrifice, it
certainly holds good for tithes also.

Again ; it is much more consistent with
the Scriptural character of God to suppose
that in this ordinance he continued a rule

MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN" LIBERALITY. 63

previously enjoined by: himself, than that he
adopted a scale which had first recommend-
ed. itself to the uninspired judgment of man.
The whole spirit of Scripture leads" us to con-
clude that the true God borrows nothing
from man. He is the teacher, never the
taught. The very minutest ceremonies of
the law were dictated by him. The most
trivial portions of the Tabernacle were com-
manded to be made after his pattern. The
customs of the surrounding nations in their
religious worship, however innocent some of
these were in themselves, were forbidden to
his people. Much less may we suppose that
so important a part of the law as its tenth
was borrowed by him from man. I^or will
it answer here to say that those from whose
example this may be supposed to have been
taken were faithful men. unlike those idola-
trous nations whom Israel was forbid to
imitate. What is the wisdom of Abram or
of Jacob in his sight "who chargeth his
angels with folly?" It is, then, more rea-
sonable to conclude from the Scriptural char-
acter of God that his ordinance of a tenth in
the Mosaic law was a continued assertion of
his own commandment, than that it was
copied from the example either of Jacob or
of Abram.

64: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

Again ; this is more consonant with, the
nature of the law itself, which in all of it
that is of a moral nature, and in much that
is of a ceremonial, was hut the republication
of an older commandment. Imprinted at
first on the unfallen mind, the moral law was
never quite obliterated even from fallen na-
ture, as St. Paul declares in the second chap-
ter of Romans ; it was revealed, in parts at
least, from time to time, until the more full
declaration of it by Moses, and has only had
its full spiritual meaning brought ont, and
its deep obligation enforced, by the Christian
dispensation. Now we claim for the giving
of a tenth to God all the authority of moral
obligation. It is from its nature wholly shut
out from the domain of mere ceremonies and
traditions, which may be of force in one dis-
pensation and abrogated in another. The
gift of some portion to him none can deny to
have this force, always, in all places, at all
times ; and it only remains for God to name
his proportion in order to give to that pecul-
iar portion the force of a moral precept.
"We will again use the analogous instance of
the Sabbath-day to illustrate our argument.
To devote a portion of our time to the special
service of him to whom all our days are due
is a moral obligation ; but.God having speci-

BCBA8UBB OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 65

fied a seventh as the particular portion he
claims, makes our observance of a seventh,
rather than of any other portion, to be the
point in which our obligation lies. The gift
of a tenth, then, being morally obligatory,
forming an important part of the moral law
binding on the Jewish conscience, being no
mean part of that worship due by them to
Jehovah, and partaking in no degree of the
nature of that code of ritual from which
Christ has set us free, it is only agreeable
with all we are told of the moral law to sup-
pose that this, as eveiy other part of it, came
not first into force when it fell from, the lips
of Moses, but had its previous sanction of the
divine commandment, and its previous claim
to man's obedience.

Again; we have reason to conclude, that
in the extent of moral obedience the Israel-
ites were not subjected to a stricter law than
the Church of God in preceding times. In
one point we know that, from the hardness
of their hearts, their departure from the
purer and stricter law of earlier days was,
we do not say approved of, but suffered to
take place; we allude to the subject of
divorce. We may, then, reasonably con-
clude that in other respects no stricter law
of morals was imposed upon them, which

66 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN" LIBERALITY.

would be the case if the Jewish proportion
were a tenth, while believers of previous
times could discharge their obligation by
the gift of what portion they pleased a
twentieth it might be, or less.

Once more; we rely on the manner in
which tithes are spoken of in the law of
Moses as establishing the fact that they were
not then for the first time made the peculiar
property of God. Particular attention is due
to this. The twenty-seventh chapter of Levit-
icus and thirtieth verse is the first place in
the law where a tenth is spoken of. Let us
mark the way in which it is spoken of: "All
the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of
the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the
Lord's : it is holy unto the Lord" The use
of the present tense forbids us to suppose that
now first was a tenth -made the property of
God ; it obliges us to allow that it was already
his. Even if he had said of it, as in fact he
does in verse thirty-two, "It shall be holy to
the Lord," this would not prove it to be then
first ordained, for it might properly signify
the continued appointment of a previous Jaw,
as we know to be the case with the ten com-
mandments, which run in the future tense;
but where he says of it, "It is hol/y" to him,
this cannot signify any other thing than that

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 67

what was spoken of was already established
when the words were uttered. "We need not
fear relying on the plain grammatical sense of
Scripture. It was written under the inspira-
tion of that Spirit who would not allow error
to be conveyed by its language. But if we
turn our attention to the same expression in
the case of other ordinances, we will be con-
firmed in our view of the sense we have
taken of it when applied to a tenth. Another
such expression precisely occurs in this chap-
ter about the firstlings of beasts ; and it is to
be remarked that, with the exception of this
and that of the tenth, every other ordinance
in the chapter is in the future tense. The
twenty-sixth verse reads thus: "Only the
firstling of the beasts, which should be the
Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it:
whether it be ox or sheep : it is the Z,ord?s"
Moses here speaks of a law already estab-
lished on the departure of Israel from Egypt,
and with this agrees the expression, "It is
the Z,orcFs" Poole's comment on this verse
is short and striking. He says, that the Is-
raelite " is forbid to vow his firstling because
it is not - his own, but the Lord's already, and
therefore to vow such a thing to God is a
tacit derogation from, and a usurpation of
the Lord's right, and a mocking of God by

68 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

pretending to give Mm what we cannot with-
hold from him." "We should have expected
to find him in his comment on verse thirty
saying of the tenth what he has, when ex-
plaining verse twenty-six, said so well of the
firstling ; but we have no hesitation in assert-
ing that the same expression is adopted in
verse thirty of the tithe, because it was then
no new ordinance, but God's old and long-
established claim. Let us take another simi-
lar example in the case of the Sabbath-day,
ordained to be observed at the creation. The
first mention of the Sabbath in the law is in
Exodus xvi, 23: "And he said unto them,
This is that which the Lord hath said, To-
morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto
the Lord." "Whatever Moses may refer to
in his expression, "The Lord hath said,"
whether to his ordinance of the Sabbath in
the second chapter of Genesis, or to a subse-
quent ordinance of that day, there is no
doubt that the expression, "To-morrow is
the rest of the Sabbath," means that it was
an ordinance already established, not one
now first introduced. Thus confirmed in
the view taken of Leviticus xxvii, 30, we
need not hesitate in concluding that it sup-
ports all the preceding arguments on the
subject of the tenth, establishing the fact,

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 69

that it was not first introduced as a divine
appointment in the Mosaic dispensation, but
was continued in that dispensation from a
preceding age.

We have thus far then proceeded in our
argument, and will not, I apprehend, find
much difficulty in the application of it to the
Christian's obligations. We have seen that
the ordinance of a tenth was originally the
command of God to the world at large, and
as such its traces have been met with in re-
mote and unconnected lands. As in the late
anxious searches for the gallant band lost
amid Arctic snows, the discovery of some-
what that had belonged to them, or some
other memorial, led the searchers to con-
clude, "Here Franklin passed, or here he
spent the weary polar winter ;" so the traces
of a tenth amid the superstitions and idola-
tries of many lands led us to acknowledge
the existence of a divine law which traversed
the world, and, piloted by heavenly skill,
never wholly suffered shipwreck. We have
seen even ungodly Gain recognizing God's
claim to a portion of his substance, though
his gift was not accepted, being offered
not in faith, but in a self-righteous spirit;
as in later times God disdained the offer-
ings of those who rejected his only Son.

70 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

"We have seen Abram, the friend of God,
paying to God's priest as Ms right the tenth
of all his spoils, and Jacob vowing to the
bountiful Giver of blessing the same portion
of all his substance. And, finally, we have
seen God himself, in the Mosaic dispensa-
tion, by his ordinance of a tenth marking by
unmistakable sign this law as having come
from himself; acknowledging it there, not
as the mere chance product of human grati-
tude seeking thus to express its deep obliga-
tions, but as his own command first issued
to the world at large, to keep alive and per-
petuate in the minds of those who would
fain be independent, his claim to universal
sovereignty.

Before leaving this chapter, there is one
inference that I wish to draw. We saw, in
the instance in Abrarn's life, that God's tenth
was all of it given to Melchizedek; in Ja-
cob's case we concluded, that none of it was
devoted to the maintenance of a priesthood ;
while, in the present chapter, we see that its
principal object was for the support of the
ministry of Levi, including the Jewish priest-
hood. What I would infer, then," is this,
that while the tenth is at all times due, and
to be paid to God, the way in which he
wishes it to be used is not always the same,

MEASUEE OF CHKIBTIAN LIBERALITY. 71

but varies according to the dispensation and
his appointment. It may all of it go to sup-
port a ministry, or none of it may be spent
that way, or a portion of it may suffice. All
depends on the expression of his will to whom
it belongs.

We have hitherto strictly confined our at-
tention to the subj ect of the tenth, and have
prepared the way for the consideration of it
as it affects us of the Christian dispensation.
We cannot, however, come immediately to
this point. Our Scriptural inquiries will, I
think, lead us to the conclusion, that while
a tenth is God's general claim on man, on
some he makes a further claim. From most
it may be a tenth is all that he expects, but
there would appear to be others from whom
he looks for a far more bountiful gift. We
propose, then, in reference to these latter to
consider the subject of the Jewish free-will
offerings.

72 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTER TIE.

"I HAVE SEEK WITH JOY THY PEOPLE TO
OFFER WILLINGLY UNTO THEE."

A TITHE was the general law for Israel ; but
Jewish liberality was by no means confined
within that limit. It was neither intended
to be so by Him, who being himself all
bountiful, loveth also a cheerful giver ; nor
was it so accepted by those to whom was
given along with abundance the free spirit
which loves to communicate. In God's
ancient Church were those who disdained
to set a limit to their bounty where the
cause of Jehovah was concerned ; but only
thought themselves too highly honored in
bestowing their wealth on him. How de-
lightful to look back upon those glorious
pages of Jewish history, when this free
spirit animated the nation as one man;
when all, both high and .low, from the
prince and noble to the humblest Israelite,
vied in pouring their gifts into the treasury
of God. The precious metals dug from the
bowels of the earth, the costly stones gath-
ered from the ocean and the mine, rich furs,

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 3

fine linen, costly woods, and spices, all were
offered willingly in the sacred cause. Those
who had none of these, but to whom God
had given wisdom to devise or hands to exe-
cute, devoted freely the inventions of genius,
the skill of art, and the strength of labor, in
executing the work of God. ~No selfish
thought seems to have come across their
minds, no covetous reflections to have check-
ed the free current of their bounty. They
only reflected that it was for God they did
it, and with that view no gift appeared too
valuable or great. How sad the contrast
with other periods when covetousness and
selfishness took the place of bounty and of
gratitude ; when not merely free-will offer-
ings were grudged, but the appointed tenth
was withdrawn. ~Not more striking was the
contrast between the condition of Israel at
these differing times. In the one the win-
dows of heaven were opened, and plenty
poured out from her free horn, while glad-
ness dwelt within the heart, and joy beamed
on the countenances, of a happy people ; in
the other God in displeasure dried up the
fountain whence the streams of refreshing
had flowed in their various channels, and
gloom overshadowed the face, and repining
saddened the spirits, of the selfish nation ;

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

for it was true which Solomon said, " There
is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and
there is that withholdeth more than is meet,
and it tendeth to poverty."

The free-will offering differed from the
tenth, not only in that it was not required
from all the people, but that even where it
was expected, discretion seems to have been
allowed as to how much or how little should
be given. To give a tenth was the bounden
duty of every Israelite, but the free-will
offering depended on the ability and will-
ingness of the offerer. The one was re-
quired of all the people ; .the reluctant and
the grudging were scarcely invited to join
in the other. "Speak unto tlie children of
Israel," said God in one place to Moses,
" that they bring me an offering : of every
man that giveth it willingly with his heart,
ye shall take my offering" Thus we see the
discretion that was allowed in these offer-
ings. That which man felt willing to give,
God invited him to bestow ; but where the
willing spirit ceased, the offering was not
pressed. It is still called, and really was as
much, God's as was the tenth, and so we
will see it a little further on allowed to be
by his servants ; but yet it was ordinarily left
optional with the Israelite. To him. was

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 75

said, as to his successor in this Christian dis-
pensation, Let every man do as he is disposed
in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity.
"With this discretionary power were, how-
ever, added the restrictions, that whatever
was offered should be perfect in its kind and
without blemish, and that what was once of-
fered could not be withdrawn.

The Jewish free-will offering was, in some
instances at least, of a permanent nature.
Ordinarily a gift, greater or less as occasion-
al circumstances required, it was sometimes
regular in its payment and obligatory in its
nature, because, though at first voluntarily
undertaken, yet when undertaken it could
not be withdrawn, in conformity with the
precept of Deut. xxiii, 23. Of this kind was
that annual tribute which the Jews on their
return from Babylon bound themselves to
pay to God for .the service of his house. In
the course of time it amounted to an im-
mense treasure, contributed not only by
those Jews inhabiting Palestine, but also by
those scattered throughout Gentile cities,
and exciting by its vastness the cupidity and
rapacity of Mithridates, of Pompey, and of
Crassus. (Hooker's Eccl. Pol., 1. xiv, c. 7.)
"Let no one wonder," says Josephus,.(Ant.,
1. xiv, c. 7,) " that there was so much wealth

76 MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

in our temple, since all the Jews throughout
the habitable earth, and those that worship-
ed God, (that is, proselytes,) nay, even those
of. Europe and Asia, sent their contributions
to it, and this from very ancient times.

But, generally speaking, their free-will
offerings were made on extraordinary occa-
sions. The principal ones of these that we
read of in Scripture were three in number,
and all of them for the. purpose of raising a
house to God* The first of these was the
erection of the Tabernacle in the wilderness ;
the second, the preparation for the building
of the Temple in the reign of David, and its
actual building by Solomon ; the third was
on the return of the captive tribes from
Babylon, when they proceeded to reerect
on its former site the holy house, which ha'd
been laid waste for their sins. On each of
these occasions the enthusiasm of the people
in offering was very great ; and vast as was
the amount of costly and valuable things re
quired, all was supplied, and more than
supplied, by the zealous liberality of the
offerers. When the Tabernacle was being
made and furnished we are told that the
people required, not to be urged to give, but
to be restrained from giving^ How extra-
ordinary does it sound in these covetous

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

times the complaint of the overseers of the
building, " The people bring much more
than, enough for the service of the work,
which the Lord commanded to make !'
How strangely does it read, in these days of
calculating selfishness, the command which
Moses caused thereon to be proclaimed
throughout the camp of Israel, " Let neither
man nor woman make any more work for
the offering of the sanctuary!" In the
wealthy reigns of David and Solomon, the
amount contributed almost exceeds calcula-
tion. While on the return of the captives,
in poverty no doubt, from Babylon, the lan-
guage of the inspired historian is brief but
very significant, " They offered freely for the
house of G-od," "They gave after their
ability."

Such were the Jewish free-will offerings
when extraordinary occasions called for their
liberality. In the times of their piety to
God his appeal was not made in vain. The
treasures of the nation were expended in his
cause with a zeal and a self-denial becoming
the chosen people. O, had they been always
thus, and in other respects as in this, then
would Jerusalem have been, what she will
one day be, "a praise upon earth." Per-
haps some are ready to say, "These were

78 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

sad times in Judah when the people thus
alienated from themselv.es and their families
their most valuable substance." So might
covetousness say, but so saith not the bounti-
ful heart. To such the joy of giving is
greater, deeper, purer, and more lasting,
than the joy of receiving. , Let us turn to
one of those occasions before referred to,
when David assembles the congregation of
Israel, and declares what he has offered,
and receives from them their offerings for
the Temple which Solomon was to build.
Among the many days of holy joy which
rose upon the chosen people throughout
their wonderful career, this was one of the
brightest. It takes its place side by side
with that glorious morning, when Israel,
saved from the hands of the Egyptians, saw
their enemies dead on the sea-shore ; when
Moses and the people sang their song of
thanksgiving ; when Miriam took the tim-
brel in her hand, and all the women went out
after her with timbrels and with dances, and
their glad hymn was, " Sing ye to the Lord,
for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."
It deserves -"to be remembered for its joy
with that great Passover kept in the reign
of Hezekiah, after a long interval of neglect

MEABTTRE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEBALITY. 79

of that holy ordinance, when the pious king
recalled to Israel's mind their ingratitude,
and moved them to repentance ; when, in
their new-bom zeal, they kept not only the
seven days of the feast appointed by the law,
but other seven also, " with exceeding glad-
ness ;" when there was great joy in Jerusa-
lem, because since the days of Solomon there
had been no such Passover ; when the priests,
the Levites, arose and blessed the people,
and their voice was heard, and their prayer
came up into his holy dwelling-place, even
into heaven. It ranks with that day of re-
joicing when the liberated captive took
down the harp which he had hung upon the
willows by the waters of Babylon when, if
he wept at the remembrance of Zion, it was
with tears of joy at the prospect of soon
again beholding her battlements and towers
when each said to the other, " Sing aloud
unto God our strength : make a joyful noise
unto the God of Jacob ;" and there was
heard again in Judah "the voice of harpers
harping with their harps." Even such a day
was that when David and the people offered,
with joyful willingness, the best of their sub-
stance for the Temple of their Lord.

-Nor did they think in doing so that they
were doing any such work of supererogation

80 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

as made God their debtor. It remained for
later times to set up this false and blasphe-
mous claim of human merit. It remained
for those, who assert for themselves exclu-
sively the possession of the faith, but whom
the word of truth describes as apostate from
the faith, to put forward this arrogant pre-
tension. In the seasons of deepest devotion
to God, when all they had and all they were
were laid at his feet, the feelings of the
faithful Israelite, and his language, were
ever the humblest. Then were their short-
comings most keenly remembered, while
their performances of duty were felt to be
God's due, and at the best imperfect. The
praise which was continually in their
mouths was the praise of God ; and when
this praise was at its highest note, the deep
bass which accompanied it, and gave it
volume, was that of humiliation and self-
abasement. As David prayed that the
" free-will offerings of his mouth might be
accepted of the Lord," thereby confessing
them unworthy of him whom they would
celebrate, so he felt when offering his own
and his people's offerings. He knew, after
all, that the offerer was sinful, and his gift
the property of God. " Who am I," said he,
" and what is my people, that we shall be

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 81

able to offer so willingly after this sort ; for
all things come of thee, and of thine own
have we given thee?"

"We reserve for a future chapter the dis-
cussion on the propriety on the part of some
of free-will offerings over and above their
tenth. With one single observation we will
dismiss this present chapter. That, which
Solomon expended on the house of God
brought a more pure and real joy to his
heart, and more lasting honor to his name,
than his subsequent vast expenditure on the
splendor of his court and the magnificence
of his harem.

6

82 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTEE IX.

"HONOR THE LORD WITH THY SUBSTANCE."

have now brought down our subject to
that point when we are to apply it to our-
selves. This is our serious inquiry, Have
the foregoing arguments any reference to us
or not? Are Christians under the same ob-
ligations to God in the expenditure of their
substance, that we have seen his people to be
under in the Jewish and preceding dispensa-
tions ; or has Christianity, in relieving them
from the burden of Jewish ceremonial, also
left them at liberty to expend in the cause
of God whatever portion of their substance
they think fit themselves? Our position
here is, that it has not ; that God still ex-
pects from us the same proportion of our
goods to be used in his glory which he re-
ceived from his Church in former ages.
This is what we shall endeavor to establish
in the present chapter. It is evident that
whatever reason there was for supposing
that God would define plainly what portion
of his substance he expected from man exists
as much for Christians as for those of pre-

MEASURE OF CHBISTIAN LIBERALITY. 83

vious dispensations. The same covetousness,
alas ! that has ever reigned in the natural
heart, and exerted its influence even in the
heart renewed by grace, is equally powerful
now, as it has heen. The same selfishness
which led those of former times to grudge
God his portion of their substance, and to
expend their all on their own aggrandize-
ment, or the advancement of their families,
would also lead the Christian to contract his
acknowledgments to God within the narrow-
est compass, and part even his miserable
mite with reluctance. Nay, it is of our dis-
pensation in its latter periods that prophecy
has given among its leading features, " Men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covet-
ous." If, then, we saw any probability that
God would at any time define his claim, that
probability still exists.

If a former part of our argument has been
admitted, -namely, that the obligation of a
tenth dates from times long anterior to Ju-
daism, and was only continued, not com-
menced, in that system, our conclusion that
its obligation exists with Christians would
very speedily be established. The argu-
ment was, that God imposed this obligation
as a common and perpetual ordinance upon
mankind. If, in the days of !N"oah, or, as is

84: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

much more probable, in those of Adam, the
Almighty required from these heads of man-
kind that they should honor him, the Owner
and Bestower of all, with a tenth of their
substance ; and if in consequence .among
various nations, and especially among those
who in the earliest days worshiped God with
acceptable worship, not self-devised but re-
ceived from him, the distinct traces of this
original command have been seen, it cannot
be doubted in that case that the obligation
to keep this precept still exists in all its force
for us. The reason is a plain one. The com-
mands of God to men continue in force until
they have been repealed by him. ]STow, this
particular precept was never repealed -by
him. On the contrary, when a new dispen-
sation (the Jewish), to answer peculiar cir-
cumstances, was instituted by him, he made
this original command a part and parcel of
its constitution ; he gave it a leading position
in it ; down to the latest prophet he insisted
on it as most obligatory on his people, while
not one of the prophets ever spoke of it as
a temporary institution; by the mouth of
his Son he continued still to assert his full
claim to the observance of it ; and thus
handed it over in all its force and all its
freshness to the Christian dispensation. JSTot

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 85

one link is wanting in the chain of evidence
which brings" this precept from the days of
its primitive appointment down to our own.
ISTot a shadow of pretense exists for assert-
ing, that if it had once been imposed by
God, he had withdrawn its obligation, or
suffered it to become obsolete from want of
observance. In those days, when by Moses
he published the original moral law of man-
kind, -wrote on tables of stone what had
become defaced from the fleshly.tables of the
heart, and in the permanent record of the
Scriptures preserved it from being lost amid
the ever-varying traditions of men, the obli-
gation of the Israelite to pay a tenth to him
was insisted on as plainly as any other obli-
gation ; while, being brought into the law
from preceding ages, there could be no pre-
tense for saying, that with the passing away
of the peculiarities of Judaism this, too, had
ceased to be of obligation. If, therefore, we
admit that God ordained this practice before
the days of Moses, and that in obedience to
this ordinance Jacob vowed his tenth to God,
and Abram paid his tithe to Melchizedek, we
cannot deny that the same obligation con-
tinues with us, preserved unbroken through
Jewish to Christian times.

In my own mind I am satisfied with the

86 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

perfect validity of this argument, and would
be content to close the matter "here. But I
am also persuaded, that even if the grounds
of it should be disputed, our conclusion may
yet be proved in another way. Should any
one think, notwithstanding what has been
advanced, that the divine origin of a tenth
cannot be established as of an elder date
than the Mosaic law, even on this lower
ground I am prepared to argue for its con-
tinued obligation in the Christian Church.
Let it, then, for the sake of argument, be
allowed that in the Jewish dispensation we
find its first distinct appointment by God.
On this ground we will proceed in the re-
mainder of the chapter to show its contin-
ued obligation upon us.

The Christian's estimation of the Old Tes-
tament Scriptures is not unfrequently very
different ironi what it ought to be. It is too
often supposed that they were only, or at
least chiefly, intended for the Jewish dispen-
sation, and that, when the Christian was
introduced, they were, in great measure, to
be laid aside, and the ]\ r ew Testament Scrip-
tures were to take their place. They are
imagined by some to be peculiar to the Jew,
somewhat as the Koran is to the Moham-
medans, and that the Christian finds his law

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 87"

of life in the writings of the evangelists and
apostles. Now such an idea is wholly erro-
neous. The faith of the Old Testament and
the ISTew is essentially one. The moral duties
inculcated by both are essentially the same.
The ]STew Testament is but the fulfilment and
comment on the Old, as the prophets en-
force, illustrate, and expand the spiritual
meaning of Moses's law. The difference
between the two is but in development, not
in sense. Now, this Old Testament is com-
pletely the book of the Jewish Church.
Take away a portion of Genesis, and all the
rest relates to Israel. Its call in Abraham,
its bondage, its law, its Canaan, its sins, its
punishment, its privileges, its promises,
these are the contents of the Old Testament
Scriptures. And yet these latter, rightly
understood, were a complete law of life
and salvation to the faithful Israelite before
Christ came, to the faithful Christian after
his coming. The pretense of Home, that
the Christian. Church was for a considerable
time left to oral tradition and teaching, is
utterly false : she had in the Old Testament
her perfect law. It was these that Christ
commanded to be searched, as testifying of
him. These were Stephen's " lively oracles,"
handed down from Moses as a precious tra-

88 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

dition to the Christian. It was after " the
way " taught in them that Paul " worshiped
the God of his fathers, believing all things
that were written in the law and in the pro-
phets." These were the "Holy Scriptures,"
which Timothy had known " from a child ;"
which were " able to make wise unto salva-
tion ;" which were " profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness;" which could make the "man
of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works." As the Scriptures of the Old
and Kew Testament, then, are essentially
the same, so the Churches ruled by both
are essentially one. "They are not two
Churches," says C. Leslie, "but two states
of the same Church ; for it is the same Chris-
tian Church from the first promise of Christ
(Gen. iii, 15) to the end of the world ; and
therefore it is said (Heb. iv, 2) that the gos-
pel was preached unto them as well as unto
us." And so Isaiah declares, that the change
from Jewish to Christian times would be but
God's " calling his servants by another name."
Our Lord declares, that it was not the set-
ting up of another fold, but the calling of
the wandering nations into the existing fold :
while Paul teaches the same important
truth, when he declares that the baptism of

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 89

the Gentiles into the faith of Christ was but
their grafting upon the ancient stock of
Israel.

Now, our couclusion from these undoubt-
ed facts is this, that the precepts of the Old
Testament are still as binding as ever, except
in such particulars as, having been fulfilled
by Christ and performed their temporary
office, have been done away, according to
the declaration of our Lord, that "not one
jot or tittle should pass from the law till all
were fulfilled." "We do not say that all that
is in the Old Testament is binding still ; we
know that it had its peculiarities, and that
these are abrogated : but we assert, that with
the exception of these, exceptions on which
we can lay our hands and tell which they
are, those ancient Scriptures are as much
our law as are the writings of the apostles
of Christ. Now it is quite evident that if
they are, as no doubt they are, our law, we
must be able to separate between what is
binding and what is not binding in them.
If on this point we are doubtful, if we know
not which is obligatory, and which is not,
their force as a law would be gone, for the
" trumpet would give an uncertain sound."
What is done away with we can only learn,
either from those Scriptures themselves, or

90 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

from those of the New Testament, or from
both. Whatever cannot be proved from
these sources to be abrogated must be con-
sidered still in force. We will show, then,
not only that no such abrogation exists in
the matter of the tenth, but that, on the con-
trary, we have every fair and sufficient rea-
son for concluding that its obligation is con-
tinued in the Christian, dispensation ; 'and if
we do this, and at the same time remove
certain objections that might seem at first
sight opposed to our conclusion, we consider
that we will have gained our point.

When the preachers of the gospel ad-
dressed themselves to the Jewish mind, they
never insisted on their reception of any truth,
or their laying aside any practice, which
they could not establish to them out of their
own Scriptures. In their " witness, both to
small and great, they said none other things
than what Moses and the prophets did say
should come." The coming and circum-
stances of the Messiah, the casting away
of the Jews and calling in of the Gentiles, -
the change of the priesthood, the abroga-
tion of sacrifices and of the ceremonial law
in general, all were reasoned with them
out of the Old Testament ; and it was only
because they rejected Moses and the proph-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 91

ets that they rejected Christ. To mention
particular parts of the New Testament where
this can be seen may appear superfluous,
when traces of it are to be found through-
out ; but we may, before passing on, instance
the third, fourth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh
chapters of Romans, the third, fourth, and
fifth chapters of Galatians, and from the
fifth"' to the tenth chapter inclusive of He-
brews, as remarkable examples. Now, nei-
ther in the New Testament where, in all
probability, every departure from Jewish
practice has been noticed nor in any part
of the writings of the Old, has it ever been
hinted, that in Christian times men were to
cease to honor God with their substance as
his servants of previous times had done. If
such an intimation can be pointed out, we
will at once confess ourselves mistaken ; but
since none such can be shown, it plainly fol-
lows that the obligation of Christians in this
respect is continued in all its force.

Again, it is allowed that, while the civil
and the ceremonial laws of Judaism do not
bind Christians, its moral law is still as bind-
ing as ever. Now the giving of a tenth was
certainly a part of the Jewish moral law,
and therefore it is of force with Christians.
That the giving of a tenth was a moral duty

92 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

to the Jews, is of easy proof. It had noth-
ing typical or ceremonial about it. In all
times, both previous and subsequent to Ju-
daism, the giving of some portion of man's
substance to God was esteemed a moral
duty ; and when God, in the Jewish dispen-
sation, if not before, named a tenth as his
expected portion, then the gift of a tenth to
him became of moral obligation. Thence-
forward it could not be altered, except by
the -same authority that imposed it. A par-
allel instance readily occurs to us in the ob-
servance of the Sabbath, or seventh day.
In Eden God ordained that the seventh por-
tion of man's time should be dedicated to
himself. If this specific portion had not
been mentioned, its observance would have
no stronger obligation than any other sup-
posed proportion of our time. But no soon-
er had God fixed upon this proportion, than
the observance of that, rather than of any
other, became our moral duty, which no
man might dare to alter which no mere
change of dispensation could set aside. The
keeping of a seventh day has been a per-
petual ordinance before the flood, in the
patriarchal and Jewish age, and in the
Christian Church. And so the gift of a
tenth, made a moral duty to the Jew, con :

_ MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 93

tinues a moral duty to his Christian success-
or, who has come in his place, and taken
upon him his predecessor's privileges and
obligations.

Every reason exists now, and exists even
in greater force, for the giving of a tenth,
which existed in Jewish times. God is still
the sovereign Lord of all, and therefore to
be honored by his creatures in those gifts he
has bestowed upon them. Man is still the
recipient of blessings, and bound to show in
some sensible manner his gratitude and love.
The interests of religion are to be upheld in
a world, which would quickly, if left to
itself, turn aside from, and forget and op-
pose the truth. The widow, the orphan,
and the destitute, are still among us, rec-
ommended to us by that same God who
gave them in charge to his ancient people.
In one most important respect the need of a
tenth is more felt in the Christian than the
Jewish Church. The latter was not mis-
sionary in its character, its calling was
merely to uphold the faith among the chosen
people ; while that of the Christian is to
bear the name of Christ to every dark land
of heathenism, and never to stay its labors
till every child of the great common Father
has been brought home " to the Shepherd

94 MEASURE. OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY;

and Bishop of his soul." It, surely, is not
to be thought of for a moment, that the time
of God's displaying most fully his love to
man is to be seized on by the latter as the
time for diminishing the expression of his
gratitude ; or that the acknowledgments of
God's sovereignty are to be less manifest
when he has made us and ours doubly his
own. If in that elder and less-privileged
system men honored God with the tenth of
their substance, can it be imagined that we,
so much more favored, are to be behind
them in our gratitude ? For what the dim,
cold light of breaking day, struggling with
the mists of night, is to the glorious sun of
noon, such is Judaism to Christianity. Bon-
dage was the spirit of the former, adoption
that of the latter dispensation. For in the
one Christ was foreshadowed, in the other
Christ was manifested; in the one men
sought, in the other they found him.

As the grand reason namely, the honor-
ing God still exists in all its force for the
gift of a tenth, as well as the uses to -which
he would have it applied, so the JSTew Testa-
ment everywhere requires of the believer a
portion of his substance. This portion was
to be greater or less, according as God had
prospered each individual. True, a tenth is

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 95

not named in the New Testament ; but that
was not required, because that proportion
was already fixed in the Old. This is quite
a sufficient reason, as has been shown in the
opening of this chapter. Already laid down,
there was no occasion for its repetition.
From what we know of the liberality of the
early Christians, in some instances giving
away their all, in others, "out of a deep
poverty abounding in liberality, to their
power, yea, and beyond their power, being
willing of themselves," we should not ex-
pect that the proportion of a tenth would be
urged upon them as a duty, when, in all
probability, few of them were satisfied with
that portion, but gave much more. This
same silence has been observed in the New
Testament on another most important point.
In the institution of the sacrament of bap-
tism, it would be hard to show from its
pages that infants were to be partakers of it.
Its ordinance by Christ has been quoted by
the opponents of infant-baptism just as
freely as it has been advanced by its defend-
ers, and not without some show of reason.
While the cases which occur in the history
of the New Testament Church in the Acts
of the Apostles and elsewhere of whole
families being baptized, are not conclusive

96 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEKALITY.

on the subject, since it cannot be shown
from any one of them that infants were
among their number. The simple but satis-
factory proof is to be found in the Old Test-
ament. There God entered into covenant
with the infant children of his people ; and
when he was establishing his new and better
covenant with the Christian Church, he did
not mention children, because he had al-
ready declared his will that such should
be brought into covenant with him. He
changed the matter and the form of the ac-
companying rite, and, therefore, he plainly
said, "Go, baptize in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;"
but, intending no change in the subjects of
the covenant, he speaks not particularly of
them. Jewish fathers, the apostles and mis-
sionaries of the first Christian Churches,
would have no hesitation on this point.
They had circumcised, they would hence-
forth baptize, their children.

We will notice another instance which
seems to establish the principle here laid
down, that every portion of the Old Testa-
ment is binding, except that comparatively
small portion which has been specially no-
ticed as done away. By what do we Chris-
tians regulate the degrees within which mar-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERAUTT. 97

riage is permitted? By the law of Moses
contained in Leviticus ? On all hands these
are allowed to be in force. St. Paul, in one
instance, refers plainly to their continued
obligation, when with horror he mentions
the sin committed by a member of the Cor-
inthian Church in marrying his father's wife.
Now this case, we contend, is far more diffi-
cult of proof than the obligation of the
tenth. The prohibitions of marriages with-
in certain degrees are found in the Levitical
law, and in that alone. They partake more
the character of a law enacted from motives
of expediency than of a moral command-
ment. They certainly were not in force
from the beginning, when marriages within
the nearest degrees were permitted, and
which seem to have been permitted down to
times approaching the giving of the law, for
we read of Abraham's marrying his sister
by the father's side. They oblige for one
reason, and one only, but that is quite suffi-
cient, they are found in the law of Moses,
and have not since been repealed. "We need
not say that the gift of a portion of our sub-
stance to God stands on a higher footing, for,
whether it were a tenth or not, it has been
in force from the beginning. Can it, then,
be supposed, that the giving of our tenth to

7

98 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

the Lord, which in its essence, if not in the
mere circumstance of the exact proportion,
was always a moral duty, which has been
commanded in the law, a command repeat-
ed throughout the whole series of the writers
of the Old Testament to its latest prophet,
without one hint of its being but of a tempo-
rary nature, should in the Christian Church
have ceased to be obligatory? Let us se-
lect, for example, that proverb of Solomon,
"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and
with the first-fruits of all thine increase."
Surely this is obligatory on us. If it be not,
it would be hard to show what part of Pro-
verbs, or, for that matter, what part of the
Old Testament, is obligatory. But if it does
oblige us, in order to understand it correctly,
we must read it in the light of the Jewish
law. What it meant in Solomon's days it
means substantially in ours. The inspiring
Spirit had not, surely, two meanings for one
set of words. Now, these words bring us
of necessity to the Jewish tithe. They were
spoken of that, and of nothing else. They
had this definite meaning to the Jew ; they
have the same definite meaning to us. The
" first-fruits," of which the wise man speaks,
were not only the first, but also "the best
of the wine, and the oil, and the wheat,"

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 99

and of the various products of the land,
which the Israelite offered to God, and were
identical with that tenth which was God's
proportion of his people's substance. What
was then their duty, is ours also. We will
not stop to notice such poor objections as
that this precept cannot apply to us, since
we cannot give the same natural productions
as were supplied by the land of Canaan, or
cannot pay in kind, having many of us no
connection with land, &c. The essence of
the precept is all we contend for. The Jew
in foreign lands was in the same condition
with us, and, if too distant from Jerusalem,
could convert his offering into money.

But we have, besides, in the ISTew Testa-
ment, express authority for concluding that
this part of the ancient law, as well as that
law in general, has still a binding power
upon the- Christian's conscience. If it be
the case, that " whatever was written afore-
time was written for our learning," and if it
was written as a standing law for Israel that
they were to give to God a tenth of their
substance, it is, we think, hard indeed for us
to draw any other lesson from this precept
than that we are to honor him in like man-
ner. But the apostle Paul leaves us in no
doubt that this particular part of the law is

100 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

in force for Christians. In the ninth chapter
of his First Epistle to the Corinthians he ap-
peals to it as a living and authoritative law,
as binding in its spirit upon the Corinthi-
ans as it ever was upon the Church of Israel.
He applies the offerings of the Jews and
their application of them to enforce similar
duties among Christians. He does not, in-
deed, advert to the very point of the example
on which we are now insisting, for that was
not his object. He takes the part that suited
his own case. He wanted to establish the
right of the Christian ministry to a main-
tenance by their people, and his proof was
the case of the Jewish priesthood; "they
which wait at the altar are partakers with
the altar." But that the whole system under
the law was meant to impart its lesson under
the gospel he intimates from his general
assertion in the eighth verse, " Saith not the
law so also?" It was as much the teaching
of the law that the people should offer to
God a tenth, as that the priests should ob-
tain a portion of their offerings. It is,' there-
fore, as incumbent on Christians to give a
tenth to God as to support their ministers.
The same law which teaches the one, teaches
the other also.

And here it may be as well to apply our-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 101

selves for a moment to the consideration of
a point which the argument of the chapter
has doubtless suggested ere this to the read-
er. If we argue from the institution of a
tenth in the Mosaic law to the Christian's
obligation to give the same proportion, must
we not also insist that the Christian ministry
has a divine right to this tenth, since that of
Levi had ? To some, this would be a con-
sideration much in favor of our argument ;
to others, it would be a source of strong op-
position to it. For ourselves, while we are
clearly of opinion that its application by
God to the support of the Levitical ministry
establishes the full right of the Christian
ministry to a maintenance in comfort and
independence by their people out of their
offerings to God, we do not see that it teaches
the right of the latter to the tenth. Our rea-
son is this. The Levites formed a twelfth
part of the tribes of Israel ; the Christian
ministry has never amounted to anything
like that proportion of their people. As the
Jewish priesthood seem to have obtained but
the tenth part of the tithe ; so all that seems
taught us in regard of the gospel ministry is
that they should obtain an adequate provision
for the maintenance in comfort and respecta-
bility of themselves and of their families.

102 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

"We think that we have by this time estab-
lished our object, which was to prove that
God expects from us what he required from
his people in other days, a definite propor-
tion of that increase with which he blesses
them. But, before proceeding further, it
will be proper to notice one or two objec-
tions to the argument of this chapter, which
might seem at first possessed of some force.
The first of these is, that since the priesthood
of Levi has been done away, that tithe which
was used for their support has also been done
away. Wow to this there are two distinct
and sufficient answers. The first is, that the
great object in the Jewish tithe was the
honoring of God, and the great sin in refus-
ing it was that in so doing God was defraud-
ed. The ministry of Levi has, indeed,
passed away; but that God, whose service
Levi waited on, still requires the same
acknowledgment from his creatures in their
substance. The second answer is, that while
the Jewish ministry and the temple-worship
have departed, their place has been taken in
our dispensation by the Christian ministry
and worship, requiring to be upheld in Chris-
tian lands and to be propagated throughout
the heathen world. Another obj ection might,
perhaps, be made, from a hastily-considered

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 103

view of certain passages in the New Testa-
ment, which may seem to speak as if the
. Christian's offerings to God were left wholly
to his own discretion. It may be said that
such passages as this, " Every man, as he
purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not
grudgingly or of necessity," plainly signify
a liberty permitted to the Christian in this
respect, which is not consistent with the idea
that a certain fixed portion of his means are
expected from him by God. Now, if we
have proved our point by other and sufficient
reasons, such passages cannot have the least
power to overthrow it. They are, in that
case, in the ISTew Testament, precisely paral-
lel passages to others in the Old, which we
have seen to appeal to the individual gener-
osity of the Israelites, without their interfer-
ing in any measure with their obligation in
the matter of the tenth. The passage above
quoted can no more set aside the Christian's
duty to give his tenth to God, than the fol-
lowing passage^et aside the Jew's obligation
to do so : " Speak unto the children of Israel
that they bring me an offering; of every
man that giveth it willingly with his heart
ye shall take my offering." Both passages
are, in fact, appeals to the free spirit of those
who, having the means of being liberal

104: MEASURE Ol<' CHJBIST1AN LIBERALITF.

above that measure of a tenth laid down for
common observance, think they can expend
their abundance no way so well as in the
cause of God. Such texts as that from
2 Cor. ix, 7, are, in fact, passages that will
come under our consideration in the next
chapter, when we treat of the Christian's
free-will offerings.

We have now concluded our arguments
on this important subject, and have, as we
think, fully established that we are under
the same obligations to God in the disposal
of our means that his servants of old lay un-
der. There must have been, we suppose, a
peculiar propriety in the proportion of a
tenth. Even if Abraham and Jacob gave it
not in accordance with the divine command,
which however we are quite satisfied they
did, yet God in selecting their measure of
liberality as that which was to regulate the
liberality of Israel, stamped it with the im-
press of his approval as that which was from
man a suitable acknowledgment of his sove-
reignty, a becoming expression of man's
gratitude, and a somewhat adequate means
of maintaining his worship in the world.
Had we no other reason than that arising
from this consideration, it would surely iU
become fallible and erring man to attempt

MEASTJBE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 105

to set up any other standard for his liberality
than that which Infinite Wisdom had set be-
fore him, doubtless for his imitation. It had
been our part to follow in a humble spirit
the guidance of the Most High, satisfied that
it was the best.

In taking leave of this part of our subject
we do not feel ourselves bound, nor indeed
would our space permit us, to enter upon the
question as to whether there are not excep-
tions, and what they are, to this general ob-
ligation. That there may be such we do not
deny, but neither do we suppose them to be
more than may be supposed to have existed
in the Jewish dispensation. The poor of the
land doubtless were exempt : sudden and
unexpected losses making it difficult, per-
haps impossible, to meet our lawful engage-
ments, in all probability excuse. But on
this point we will not now enter any further.
Man's excuses, let him ever remember, must
be submitted to the scrutiny of Him whom
they deprived of his required homage.

106 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

CHAPTER X.

"HE WHICH SOWETH BOUNTIFULLY SHALL REAP
ALSO BOUNTIFULLY."

LT the Jewish dispensation we have seen
that there were those, of whom God expected
inore than the general tenth, and who gladly
responded to his call. We believe both that
the same claim is made now, and that the
Christian Church has afforded as bright ex-
amples of devotion to God as can be met
with in former times. It would be strange,
indeed, if it were otherwise : strange if in the
darker day and the less favored Church a
greater return was either expected or made.
It is not thus that God deals with man. The
day of increased privilege is ever that of in-
creased responsibility, and the season of
bounty is also that of gratitude. As the
rain and the sunshine are met by the earth's
putting forth a fresher green, and arraying
herself in fairer colors, so the dew of heav-
enly grace falls upon the believer's heart,
and the quickening influence of the Spirit is
imparted to him, that he may bring forth in
his life the fruits of righteousness, and ex-

MEASTTRE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 107

hibit in his conversation the beauty of holi-
ness. "Unto whomsoever much is given,
of him shall be much required ; and to
whom men have committed much, of him
they will ask the more."

In considering the free-will offerings of
Israel, we saw that in some cases they be-
came of a permanent nature, while the
more remarkable and important of them
were called forth on the occasions of build-
ing and furnishing the house of God. It
was well said by the pious Nehemiah, when
asked to leave his work on the second tem-
ple, that he " could not come down, for he
was doing a great work." ISTo doubt he was
doing a great work in rebuilding, in the
troubled times on which he fell, the house
which Solomon had raised amid the quiet of
a peaceful reign, and whose glory was to be
greater than that of the former house when
sanctified' by the footsteps of its Lord. But
incomparably more majestic and dearer to
God is that temple which is rearing now,
and on which Christians are called upon to
expend their free-will offerings. The Jewish
historian mentions with his nation's pride the
vast stones which constituted the beauty and
strength of the temple on Mount Sion ; but
each stone in the spiritual temple is an im-

108 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

mortal soul, which naught but the blood of
Christ could purchase, which is in itself a
temple for the Holy Ghost. Josephus de-
scribes the Jewish building as covered with
plates of gold, reflecting back at break of
day the fiery splendor of the sun, or appear-
ing at a distance like a mountain covered
with snow. To human eyes, indeed, in the
spiritual temple there is no such glory, but to
the eye of God it is beautiful and glorious,
"having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor blem-
ish ;" but reflecting back the splendor of the
incarnate Son, and clothed in the righteous-
ness of Christ. The materials and workmen
of Jerusalem's temple were brought togeth-
er from various and distant places : the
mountains of Judea afforded their quarries,
Ophir its gold, Lebanon its cedars, Babylon
its curtain vailing the holy place, Tyre its
cunning worker in brass ; but the materials
and laborers of the Christian temple are col-
lected from every clime. They come from
lands bound by eternal frosts, or parched by
a burning sun ; the broad prairie, the deep
valley amid Alpine mountains, the lonely
isles of the Pacific, send their contributions ;
the huge cities of Europe, its dark mines
unblessed by the light of day, its crowded
factories and panting furnaces, supply their

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LrBEBALTTY. 109

portion of the building ; the rich plains of
India, even unchanging China and suspicious
Japan, are represented there. The Jew es-
timated the greatness of his temple by the
length of time it took to perfect it ; but ours
has been in progress of building since God
laid its foundation-stone in the promise of
Christ to our fallen parents. It is still un-
finished after six thousand years; stone is
being laid on stone, but the last is not yet
placed. In the temple at Jerusalem David
contemplated a house " exceeding magnifi-
cat, of fame and glory throughout all coun-
tries ;" and such a house was built whose
fame attracted the attention, and, when they
saw it, the wonder of those who had seen
Nineveh and Babylon, Athens, and Alex-
andria, and Rome in their glory. But what
was its fame compared with that of the tem-
ple of which we speak? When its first
stone was laid, Satan saw it with dismay,
and spoke of it in the councils of the fiends,
while angels took up the song of praise. It
has advanced amid the strife of tongues and
the din of contention, the mean man and the
great taking part either for or against, but
none neutral here. To overthrow its walls
and dig up its foundations, fiendish malice
has plotted, and the brutal violence of man

110 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

has toiled ; while, to raise still higher those
walls, and to crown them with battlements
and turrets, zealous men have labored, and
enduring men have suffered, and angels
have speeded on their errands : it is a "spec-
tacle to the world, and to angels, and to
men ;" it is spoken of beyond the confines
of earth, wherever spirits go ; its fame has
spread even to the furthest stars. Such is
the glorious spiritual temple which is ever
in progress now ; which calls on those who
would be fellow-helpers to the truth for their
free-will offerings with far more powerful
voice than did the Jewish house : for even a
heathen could say of God, "His pleasure
lies not in the magnificence of temples made
with hands, but in the piety and devotion
of consecrated hearts."

If in the Christian dispensation there ex-
ists this great cause for the liberality of the
afnuent, do we not hear sounding in the
believer's ear now the same divine voice
which came to Israel in the wilderness?
" Bring me an offering ; of every man that
giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall
take my offering." Yes, we are persuaded
that it is thus that we are to take those pas-
sages of the ]STew Testament which leave to
the discretion and liberality of each believer

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. Ill

the amount of his gifts to God. They clash
not with that claim which God makes on us
all alike for a definite portion of our sub-
stance, for surely in the ISTew Testament it is
not permitted to the believer, if he were so
disposed, to close his purse against the
claims of God's cause upon it, and to say,
' " My liberality is left absolutely to my own
discretion ; I will not surrender my liberty ;

1 will give little, or nothing, if so I please."
Against such ideas our text is decisive : " If
any man provide not for his own, and
specially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infi-
del." "We must then take such passages as

2 Cor. ix, 7, according to the analogy of
Scripture ; we must repudiate as wholly
alien from their meaning that sense which
selfishness and covetousness would put upon
them, that the believer may, if he pleases,
wholly refuse the aid of his means to further
the cause of God, or may reduce his propor-
tion to any amount, however small, that
suits his narrow spirit. Such is altogether
opposed to the spirit of the Christian dispen-
sation, whose motto is, " Freely ye have re-

- ceived, freely give." Such passages are
appeals, not to the meanness of the covetous
mind, but to the liberality of hearts which

112 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

God hath touched with a sense of his own
exceeding goodness and bounty, not merely
in his gifts of temporal blessing, but more,
infinitely more, in his spiritual blessings, the
gift of eternal life in his dear Son our Lord,
and the gift of the Holy Ghost to fit and
prepare the Christian for his heavenly in-
heritance. It is to such that the exhorta-
tions of the New Testament are addressed,
and they would never dream of taking ad-
vantage of the discretion left them, to nar-
row and curtail their bounty to contract it
within closer bounds than the minimum of
Jewish acknowledgment, till it dwindled
down to some mere trifle unworthy of them
to offer or of God to accept. "When salva-
tion visited the house of Zaccheus, and this
lost son of Abraham was found by, and had
found Christ, straightway it was, " Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the
poor." When the " free Spirit" descended
into the hearts, as well as dwelt upon the
tongues, of the Christians at Jerusalem, in
their love and joy "all that believed were
together, and had all things common ; and
sold their possessions and goods, and parted
them, to all men as every man had need."
It required but the announcement that fam-
ine was about to try those self-denying men,

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 113

to determine the distant Christians of Anti-
och to send them relief, " each man accord-
ing to his ability." And when the same
claim was laid before the Churches of Mace-
donia, he, who had himself given up all for
Christ, bore them the record, that " to their
power, yea, and beyond their power, they
were willing of themselves," not requiring
the golden tongue of eloquence to draw from
them some half-grudged and insufficient
tribute, but themselves supplicating the
apostle " with much entreaty that he would
receive the gift." It was to such men that
discretionary appeals were made, " Let each
give as he is disposed in his heart," and it is
in the light of their abounding liberality that
we must interpret such appeals. They are,
in fact, the invitations of the !N"ew Testa-
ment to the Christian for his free-will offer-
ings, even as we saw the same addressed in
the Old Testament to those who in the wil-
derness gave with glad spirit their best and
richest possessions, or, settled in Canaan, re-
joiced to imitate the bounty of the princely
hearts of David and Solomon.

Is any one, then, still disposed to rely on
such texts as authorizing him to give as little
as he pleases in the cause of God? to him
we would say, " It is not for you to interpret

8

114: MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

them differently from those to whom they
were first addressed. Understand them as
they did, and you will understand them
aright ; but in that case most assuredly you
will take from them no encouragement for a
niggardly offering, or a covetous refusal.
Or, if you will insist on the letter of the
text, while you deny its spirit, we must then
only refer you to the apostle who wrote for
you he will tell you of what kind your
faith is ; he will describe it by one fearful
word ; he will tell you it is ' dead/ "

While the great majority of mankind
hardly earn their "bread in the sweat of the
brow ;" while a smaller number are happily
placed in that mean which the wise man
describes as life's most desirable and safest
condition, there .are others, and they in every
wealthy country iio: inconsiderable number,
who abound in the -possessions of this world.
They are those whom Scripture describes as
"the rich;" whose besetting sins in some
places it boldly denounces ; whose deep re-
sponsibility it insists on in 'others; whose
snares and temptations it .delineates with the
faithful and anxious tongue of love ; whose
great reward it delights to portray if they
take heed to their trust. Such persons are
in double danger, and Scripture does not

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 115

disguise their clanger. " They do not often
hear the truth from those who surround
them. While their wealth places every
gratification, sinful as well as innocent, with-
in their power, and the craving of a corrupt
heart urges them to gratify every wish, they
seldom meet with those who have sufficient
love and boldness and purity of intention to
warn, exhort, and entreat them. Indiffer-
ence carelessly sees them hastening to eter-
nal ruin ; or insnaring fear ties the tongue
that might otherwise have uttered the sea-
sonable saving word, or self-interest silences
him who fears to make an enemy or alienate
a patron by speaking the truth. O, that
such would turn in their danger to that guide
which neither fears, nor flatters, nor betrays,
-to that word of life written by the hands
of men, but bearing in its every word the
impress of God's wisdom and love. There
they would see their peril, and there the way
of safety.

It is to such that special appeals are made
in Scripture for special liberality, as one of
the obligations consequent on riches, and
one great means of escaping their dangers.
What is enough from others, is not enough
from them. When comfort, elegance,, even
grandeur, have been secured, there is yet an

116 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

overplus, with many a large one. Kow after
a certain sum little can be spent lawfully on
ourselves. It is related of the late Louis
Philippe of France, the richest man in Eu-
rope, that of all his vast private income, he
expended on himself not more than four
hundred pounds a-year ; the remainder was
spent on other things, the encouragement
of the fine arts, the advancement of science,
the promotion of industry, the improvement
of agriculture and commerce. Now there
are with us numbers of individuals, not pos-
sessed, it is true, of equal wealth, but yet
possessed of wealth over and beyond their
own personal wants. On what is this over-
plus to be expended ? We speak not of un-
lawful gratifications ; on them the Christian
may not expend, at the peril of his salvation,
any the smallest portion of what belongs all
of it to God. The lusts of the body, the
covetous desires of the mind, cannot justify
the expenditure of the least of God's goods;
and fearful will be the account which he
must render to his Judge, who shall be com-
pelled to own that in his stewardship he
expended his Master's money in oppressing
the poor, or defrauding his creditor of his
right, in gluttony or drunkenness, at the
gaming-table, or in the degrading pursuits

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

of impurity and lewdness. We speak not at
all of such a use of riches, nor do we pre-
tend to condemn the application of them to
the useful or the elegant arts and industries
of life. We do not see why, according to
his taste, the wealthy man may not have his
gallery of paintings and sculpture, or his
splendid conservatory, or his noble mansion,
or his tasteful pleasure-grounds. These are
all lawful in their way, and the expenditure
upon them supports the industrious classes
of the community. But what we do insist
upon is this, that amid the plans and specu-
lations of the wealthy, the honor and cause
of Him who bestowed all this wealth should
not be forgotten, or rather should surely
occupy a prominent place. To what can
wealth be so worthily devoted as to the
glory of its great Owner ? Kor can we see
how in any other way the heart of the rich
man can be preserved from the insnaring
power of Mammon than by spending it
freely in the service of God. So thought
one, who had wealth in his power, but gave
it up for Christ : " Charge them who are rich
in this world," he wrote to Timothy, as an
essential part of his duty, " that they be not
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God ; that they do good,

118 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

that they be rich in good works, ready to
distribute, willing to communicate." Here
was the apostle's safeguard against the snares
of wealth, a recollection of its uncertainty,
and of God's eternal life, together with a
free expenditure of it in every way that the
cause of God requires. How man;f those
ways are we will see in a succeeding chapter.
In the expenditure of the wealthy we claim
a place the leading place, for God. Amid
the expense of equipage, and servants, and
horses, amid the decoration of houses, and
the arrangement of landscape and garden ,T
amid the encouragement of those arts which
embellish life, or expand a nation's industry
and wealth, O, let that greatest of all causes
be first in your mind the cause of God and
of eternal life. To relieve even the temporal
wants of struggling industry; to cheer the
home of the widow and the orphan; to re-
move the spiritual darkness of a benighted
district ; to be the humble but most honored
means of adding even one living stone to the
glorious temple of the living God these
are more useful, greater, and more endur-
ing works than to erect a Crystal Palace for
the admiration of the world, to cast across
an arm of the sea a great highway of com-
munication, or to send beneath the broad

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 119

ocean with. 'the swiftness of thought the in-
terchange of the messages of the nations.
These works, no doubt, are wonderful, sug-
gestive of the greatness of man, who con-
ceived and executed them, suggestive of
the infinite greatness of Him whose creature
man is. But they may disappoint the hopes
which attended their formation, and are,
after all, to perish ; some, perhaps, like the
dream of the night; all, however lasting,
when "the earth and the works that are
therein shall be burned up." The telegraph
may oftener communicate the tidings of
wrong and of disaster than of right and
prosperity; may oftener convey the tones
of anger or the message of defiance than
those of peace and of good-will among men ;
and the glittering fabric, which in the bright
anticipations of many was to usher in the
brotherhood of nations, may only have been
the harbinger of war and desolation. But
the least- work done for the love of Christ,
and in the mind of a disciple, is never lost
it .survives the wreck of nations and the ruin
of the world: it follows the believer to his
place of glory it is never forgotten by Him
.who treasures up the actions of his saints.

And He does so precisely in the degree
that they feel themselves undeserving of his

120 MEASURE OP CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

goodness. With the bountiful Christian
there is as little notion of merit in his works
as we saw to exist in the inind of the bounti-
ful Israelite. There is, in fact, no such word
in his lips. He gladly turns from his merits,
since God does not mention them ; for what
are they? !Nbt the merit of eternal life-
that he knows to be the gift of God .in
Christ ; his merits are, separation from God,
exclusion from, heaven, the society of the
lost. He knows of no other that belongs
to him.

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 121

CHAPTEE XI.

"THE FIELD IS THE WORLD."

WE have thus considered the main subject
of our essay, "What is the proportion of his
means which the Christian should give to
God ? We will not, however, take our leave
of it without some further reflections. The
inquiry soon suggests itself to the mind in
immediate connection with our conclusion,
If we are thus to give to God of our sub-
stance, in what manner does he expect us
to bestow it? The answer opens a wide
field, indeed, for reflection ; but one over
which we must now pass very swiftly. The
briefest consideration of it will show us how
many are the objects which call on us with
l.oud voice for assistance, and attention to
which redounds not only to the glory of God,
but also to the best interests of man, even in
this present life. In what manner the offer-
ings of the ante-Mosaic times were expend-
ed we cannot certainly know, further than
that a portion of them at least were used in
sacrifices to God, in hospitality to the stran-
ger, and relief of the poor. Their use in

122 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

Jewish times is pointed out. by God himself
in the law ; "while the New Testament, also,
is explicit in informing us of the manner in
which he requires his portion of the Chris-
tian's substance to be used. Various, in-
deed, are the objects .which he lays before
his people, and intrusts to their care and lib-
erality. The Christian dispensation is intend-
ed for the world at large; the field of the
Christian's sympathy and aid is coextensive.
One brief reflection will not be out of
place before we consider the subject of the
present chapter. If we will but remember
what is literally the fact,, that, in bestowing
his assistance on its various objects, the
Christian is Only giving what belongs, not to
himself, but to God, it will be apparent with
how much greater authority he may be ap-
pealed to, aiid what far greater power such
appeals will be likely to have. It is. too fre-
quently the case that in the bestowal of his
means in the service of God, the .notion of
duty or obligation is often as little felt as it
is in mere secular matters; and so it hap-
pens that what may be given to a cause elo-
quently-pleaded is denied to the same cause
when feebly put before us. Let the belie'vei
but reflect that in reality he has no right tc
withhold his assistance, that he is only al-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN- LIBERALITY. 123

lowed the discretion of selecting such obj ects
as appear to him most to require aid, hut
that what lie is asked for is not really his hut
God's, and he will see the propriety of alter-
ing his conduct, and to look less to the man-
ner of advocacy, and more to the cause
which is advocated.

In the expenditure of the Christian's offer-
ings, the support of the gospel ministry
among ourselves occupies the leading place.
They who are God's embassadors to convey
his message to man are his first objects in
the distribution of the portion which he
claims for himself. It is their right, which
cannot be withheld from them without guilt.
" They who preach the gospel should live of
the gospel," by the same divine ordinance
that gave to the Jewish priesthood a share
of the altar sacrifices. They who have sep-
arated themselves from secular business to
devote themselves to the service of their
Redeemer, and the salvation of his wander-
ing sheep, should not have their thoughts
distracted from their calling by poverty and
want at home. "Let it hot be thought,"
says Mr. James, speaking on this subject,
" that what is given to a minister is a char-
itable donation; it is the payment of a just
debt. It is what Christ claims for his faith-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

fal servants, and which cannot be withheld
without robbery. I spurn for myself and
my brethren the degrading apprehension
that we are supported by charity. We are
not clerical pensioners upon mere bounty.
Our appeal is to justice, and if our claims
are denied upon this ground, we refuse to
plead before any other tribunal, and refer
the matter to the great assize." "We know
of no money so well spent as this, in what-
ever view regarded. It is the most direct
homage to God, being given to his servants.
Jt maintains the preaching of those grand
truths which are for the salvation of immor-
tal souls. Even on the grounds of worldly
expediency, it is more for the temporal in-
terests of nations than any other expenditure.
" Ye are the salt of the earth," said Christ to
his 'apostles ; and well and truly has Hooker
called every embassador of his " a pillar of
that commonwealth wherein he faithfully
serveth God." Take away from a nation its
gospel ministrations ; silence the message of
peace, and the word of exhortation, rebuke,
and warning, and you will quickly reduce it
to that utter degeneracy of mind and morals
which is the certain precursor of decay and
ruin. It is righteousness which is the great
exalter of one nation above another; and

MEASUBE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 125

true religion more, far more than any other
thing, produces those principles of morality,
of activity, of prudence and industry, of
temperance and endurance, which make a
people great at home, and respected and
powerful abroad. What has preserved
wealthy England from falling into that
effeminacy of manners, that luxury and vic-
ious indulgence, which extinguished the
spirit of Greece and Rome, and paved the
way for their downfall ? "Without hesitation
we say it is her possession, too partial, alas !
of true religion. What the Latin poet
said to imperial Home may with much
greater truth be said of Britain: "Thou
bearest rule, because thou submittest thy
will to heaven." To the possession of the
truth and to its influence we refer, under
God, the greatness of our country, and while
she retains them we will not fear her over-
throw.

The education of the young of our land,
not merely in secular learning, but far more
in instruction taken from God's holy word,
is another leading object which God has
placed before us. No wise man will esteem
as of little importance the education of youth
for their calling in this present world ; but
most assuredly, too, there is no man of real

126 MEASUKE Ol? CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

"wisdom who will not hold it of infinitely
greater moment to train the soul for heaven.
If it be the mark of a contracted and mis-
taken mind to despise and neglect man's
education for his position in this life, it is the
mark of a mind immeasurably more nar-
row and mistaken to neglect the moral
training and the religious knowledge with-
out which man cannot be fitted for his heav-
enly inheritance. And therefore it is that
the infallible guide-book of the Christian is
so explicit and so earnest, "Thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children." The
Scriptural school, then, in which the poor
of our land and of our people may learn of
their Saviour, and be taught to aspire from
the midst of their poverty and lowliness to a
place in his kingdom, is a fit object of our
sympathy and assistance.

The propagation of the religion of the
Saviour throughout the world, by the circu-
lation of Holy Scripture, a sound religious
literature, and missionary exertion, is an-
other grand object, which God has com-
mended to our care. " Preach the gospel to
every creature " is the divine command :
" be fellow-helpers " to those who " go forth
for Christ's sake" is the duty of all Chris-
tians, according to St. John. This subject

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 127"

naturally divides itself into efforts to evan-
gelize the heathen, to turn the heart of
Israel to that Lord and Messiah whom they
have denied, and to reclaim from the super-
stitions and idolatries into which it has
fallen a large portion of the professing Chris-
tian Church. "We need not dwell on our
duty of evangelizing heathen lands. ~No
Christian can for a moment doubt his duty
on this head, or its urgent need to those
who, " being without God, are also without
hope in the world." Over how large a por-
tion of mankind the shadow of heathen
darkness still rests, it is fearful to contem-
plate. As little doubt can there be of our
duty to proclaim in the Jewish ear the gos-
pel of our Saviour. It is true they have,
and hold with wonderful tenacity, their
ancient law, and that in that law the gospel
is preached. But, alas ! the vail is on their
hearts when they read the law, and they do
not see that Christ crucified, as well as glo-
rious, is its hope and its fulfilment. They
come, then, under the class of those who
having not the gospel require its proclama-
tion ; and sure we are that right dear in the
sight of the Lord is their work who seek to
bring to Jesus the people that once were,
and will again be, "the apple of his eye."

128 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

!N"or can it be doubted that it is the be-
liever's duty to reclaim from error fallen
Churches. Prominent among these is that
gigantic Church of Papal Rome, which has
extended her sway, and spread her corrup-
tion, over the earth. To her as their proper
object point all those various marks which
inspiration has given us, that we may know,
guard against, and shun the grand apostasy
from the faith. And though some sound
and earnest upholders of the truth may
doubt if Rome be indeed the predicted apos-
tasy, none of them doubt that she has in
many most vital points departed from the
faith, and is " a blind leader of the blind."
!N"ow departure from vital truth, and choice
of falsehood instead, is laid down in the
Scriptures as fatal to salvation. Heresies
are classed with the other works of the flesh,
as, when persevered in, excluding from eter-
nal life. The warnings of Christ's faithful
apostles, and of the great Shepherd himself,
against unfaithful teachers within the fold,
are more solemn, and their denunciations of
the terrible guilt of such persons are even
more severe, than against the infidelity of
the avowed unbeliever. !Nor is there in the
whole Scripture a more encouraging prom-
ise held out than to those who are the

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 129

honored instruments of restoring such :
" Brethren, if any of you err from the truth,
and one convert him, let him know that he
which converteth the sinner from the error
of his ways shall save a soul from death, and
shall hide a multitude of sins."

Hundreds, and even millions, are to be
reached by evangelical truth, by whom the
voice of instruction will not be heard. To
these the pious tract or beautiful spirit-
stirring volume must be sent. "What charity
is nobler than that which bears to the desti-
tute, the suffering, and the lost, in a style
at once. simple and attractive, the instruction
to enlighten the mind, the appeals to alarm
and arouse the slumbering conscience, and
the encouragement which presses the aching
heart affectionately to the warm and sym-
pathizing bosom of the Redeemer ?

The suffering poor of every communion
and opinion, and more especially those " of
the household of faith," are another object,
which we cannot neglect to consider in our
distribution of what is God's. "We do not
speak in support of an indiscriminate system
of almsgiving to every miserable-looking
object that claims it, whic*h is as much op-
posed to the teaching of Scripture as to the
maxims of a sound political economy.

9

130 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

"Whatever tends to encourage a system of
idleness, and to lead men to prefer a life of
mendicancy to that of honest and laborious
industry, certainly finds no countenance
from that book which has commanded us to
labor on six days of the week, and has or-
dained that "if any would not work, neither
should he eat." Indiscriminate almsgiving,
therefore, or the support in a lazy idleness
of those who can but will not labor, is no
part of a Christian's duty. But still there
are always cases, even in countries where
the fullest state provision is made for the re-
lief of poverty, which call upon the merciful
for their aid, and which the merciful God
requires us not to disregard. They may be
known by the judicious and inquiring ; by
those who will take a little trouble to dis-
criminate between real and fictitious dis-
tress, between the difficulties of struggling
industry and sinful sloth. There are, in
fact, few of that class who come under the
title of the poor, who at some period or
other of their lives are not in circumstances
which justly entitle them to the sympathy
of their more fortunate brethren. "Want of
employment or a season of sickness will
sometimes deprive the most industrious and
deserving of a sufficiency for their support.

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 131

It is at such times particularly that the hand
of kindness should be stretched out to their
assistance. A generous and sympathizing
conduct on the part of the upper toward the
lower orders, as it is in accordance with
God's will, so it is the best preservative of
society against the leveling doctrines of spo-
liation so prevalent in the present day. It
is the gorgeous luxury and selfish careless-
ness of the poor, by those above them, that
far more than anything else produce that
envy and hatred which pave the way for
the introduction into their minds of anti-
social principles, which in times of trial issue
in the overthrow of government and order.
A little love, and kindness, and sympathy,
if generally displayed by the independent
toward their humbler brethren, would be far
more effectual for the preservation of pro-
perty and society than stringent laws and
armed millions.

Such are the objects which God has in his
word placed before Christians for their sup-
port. On the upholding of these he expects
them to bestow that portion of their income
which is especially claimed by him. And
we thus perceive that the tenth, which be-
longs to God, is not. too much for the pur-
poses for which it is designed ; that if it be

132 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

on our part due to him as an acknowledg-
ment of his bounty and sovereignty, so he
has marked out an ample and most worthy
field for its employment. And so long as
any of these objects require our aid, so long
can no Christian plead the smallest excuse
for withholding from the Lord his right.
Until struggling industry ceases to advance
its claim, and age and sickness supplicate not
for relief; until ample instruction has been
provided for the youth of our land, and each
ministering servant and embassador of Christ
can say that he- who supplies the spiritual
wants of his flock has had his own temporal
wants fully answered; until in casting our
eyes over the wide world we can see no dark
spot to which the glorious gospel has not
been sent: until this has been done, and
done well, no Christian can pretend to say
that he may withdraw his share from the
treasury of God. Which of these great
objects is properly or fully supported ? The
answer, alas ! must be, " None." "When has
any one of them met its becoming assist-
ance ? "We must reply, " Never." JSTo man,
therefore, can -say with truth that he knows
not on what to expend that portion which
God claims for himself.
If such are the general calls on all Chris-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 133

tians, we will also find abundant to require
the free-will offerings of the wealthy. Who
that is disposed in his heart out of an over-
flowing abundance to give abundantly, but
will with little pains find some befitting
object, on which to God's glory he may
expend a portion of his riches ? He will fix
his eyes but too readily on some neglected
district of his own land, perhaps in his own
immediate neighborhood, which, though
situate in a so-called Christian country, is
almost as destitute of gospel privileges as if
it lay within a heathen land. What more
suitable, then, for a wealthy individual, or a
number of such united, than to devote their
care to this benighted spot? At their cost
let a house of God arise in the midst of it,
elegant in structure, while devoid of mere-
tricious ornament, whose open doors may
invite to prayer and to praise. Let some
faithful minister of Christ be chosen to con-
duct its ministrations; by a holy life and a
pastoral care to attract the careless and the
godless ; to win to and keep for the great
Bishop of souls his wandering sheep. Let
an endowment provide, so far as man can
provide for futurity, that the gospel sound
shall never be silent within those walls ; that
when its pious builders have mingled with

134: MEASUKE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

the dust, and the lips that first within them
testified of Christ are hushed in the grave,
the same " faithful saying, worthy of all
acceptation," may yet be heard, and "the
people that come after" may learn to praise
the Lord. It was no mean recommendation
of the centurion to Christ the report of the
Jews, "He hath built us a synagogue."
And surely the pious action of the Christian,
who in honor of his Lord raises a house to
his name, and provides for it a gospel minis-
tration is a most suitable object for his free-
will ofifering, and will bring down in the
goodness of God a blessing upon him and
his.

Or with equal propriety may the man of
wealth devote a portion of it to the erection
of a school-house, and provision for the in-
struction of youth, where such has not been
adequately provided. Second in importance
to none is such a work. It is the just obser-
vation of the poet Wordsworth, " The child
is father of the man," which is but another
form of what Solomon said long before,
" Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from
it." For what we sow we must expect to
reap. From an ignorant youth we must
look for a population a prey to the vile pur-

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 135

poses of the designing and the crafty ; from
such as have only received a secular learning
we may expect a population armed with
power for evil, and in the pride of unsancti-
fied intellect inclined to infidelity. From
those alone whose education has been based
upon divine truth may we hope for a people
the pride and strength of their country.
Such, to an extent probably unequaled else-
where, were, and we trust in a great measure
still are, the youth and manhood of Scotland.
Many, besides, are the ways in which the
substance of the rich may be expended to
the glory of God. In the erection of a hos-
pital for the sick, or an almshouse for the
aged and infirm, who have perhaps seen
better days, and been reduced through no
fault of theirs ; in the provision for the
orphan, whom death may have thrown help-
less on the world: in such ways as these
riches cease to be " the unrighteousness
mammon." Or wealth may cast a generous
eye upon some man of genius, whose soaring
intellect is cramped by that old complaint of
mental power, domestic poverty. Brought
out of want, this man may apply his mighty
mind on labors which shall enrich unborn
generations. To the liberality of Robert
Eoyle we principally owe the publication of

136 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

" Saunderson's Book on Conscience," and
"Burnet's History of the Reformation."
To the discriminating kindness of Bishop
Jewel we owe it that Richard Hooker was
not a tradesman. To similar conduct we
owe the bringing forward of many of our
greatest men and their immortal works.

Such are some of those objects which in-
deed commend themselves to the attention
of those to whom God has given riches.
These are works worthy of men and of
Christians. These are works which give
glory to God, and procure an enduring fame.
O, how far more worthy of man than the
extravagant and idle freaks in which wealth
sometimes indulges! In ancient times we
read of one whose profuse luxury has hand-
ed down a name which would otherwise
have been forgotten. Of the Roman Api-
cius we are told by Seneca that he expended
on his table nearly a million sterling of our
money; that he kept an academy of gour-
mands, and made the invaluable discovery
that the tongue of the red-wing was a deli-
cacy ; that he sailed to the coast of Africa
to eat crayfish, and not finding them so good
as he expected, returned without deigning
to land. It is but too true that Christian
times could furnish many examples of an

MEASURE OF CttRISTIAK LTBERAIJTY. 137

expenditure as foolish and far more wicked
than this. Nobler, too, are those works
which we have mentioned than the greatest
undertakings, which have not the glory of
God for their special object. The record of
these is kept on earth, and is a fading one ;
the record of those is in heaven.

138 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBEBALITT.

CHAPTER XH.

"IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RE-
CEIVE."

IN speaking in the preceding chapter of those
objects which God has commended to his
people's care, we adverted to some reasons
which show our own great personal interest
in them, and which should therefore make us
the more willing to support them. We now
propose, as briefly as possible, to place before
our readers the various motives which should
influence them in giving of their substance
to the Lord.

'Having throughout the Essay described
the bestowing of a portion of our increase in
the direct cause of God as being a tribute to
his sovereignty, a confession that he is the
true owner of all things, and an act of obe-
dience to his express commandment, we will
not further dwell on these motives, the first
and leading ones in the Christian's mind.
The feeling that all things come from God',
and still belong to him, is at the foundation
of the creature's worship of his Creator;
and the disposition to obey unreservedly

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 139

and from the heart the will of God, whether
in believing what lie places before us as the
objects of our faith, or performing what he
requires us to practice, is after all the great
distinction between those who really are his
and those who know him not, by whatever
name they may be called. The first motive,
then, in the believer's mind in the gift of his
substance is this, that God his Maker and
Father in Christ Jesus requires it from him,
in token that he and his are God's.

Another strong motive with the believer
will be gratitude. " What shall I render to
the Lord for all his benefits to me ?" is a
question that often rises to his mind. Grati-
tude is indeed the very essence of the Chris-
tian's spirit, the unfailing sign of that soul
which has been redeemed from death and
brought to life eternal. How shall it attain
its high aspirations, and find a field of exer-
cise for its ardent longings? How shall the
soul, which the "love of Christ has constrain-
ed," show the love which it feels in return?
It cannot exhibit it in self-chosen acts, in
works of whatever kind, whether painful or
otherwise, exceeding duty. It were too pre-
sumptuous for the creature to choose the
worsliip it should pay to God, to bind the
approval of the All- wise to its self-elected

140 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

acts. When the believer, then, reflects on
all that God has done for him from the first
work of creation to his wondrous love in re-
demption, when he reflects truly, though,
alas ! most inadequately, on his infinite obli-
gations, when he casts about him to dis-
cover what return he can make, he finds
the only acceptable return he can render is
his cheerful and joyful acquiescence in the
path of defined duty. "Ye are not your
own," said Paul to the Corinthians, " for ye
are bought with a price, therefore glorify
God in your body and your spirit, which are
his." The grateful mind then seeks to know
the will of God, that it may do it from the
heart. In the gift of his substance, as in
other things, he recognizes God's expressed
pleasure, and that which to the covetous is a
reluctant act, gratitude makes delightful, and
love makes easy, to the servant of the Lord.
Godliness is true wisdom, even in regard
of man's present advantage. Indeed none
but he who glorifies God is wise for himself.
So it is in regard of that duty which we are
now considering. The giving in God's cause
of that which he requires from us is assuredly
the best safeguard we can have for the safety
of our substance, and the best guarantee for
its increase. "Who can lay his hands on

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 141

worldly possessions, and stay them with him
at his pleasure ? They can elude the grasp
of their most devoted lover in a thousand
ways that are under his control whom all
things obey. They have truly the fabled
power of Proteus, and none but God has the
art of securing them. He has himself made
special promises to those who honour him
with their substance and expend it to his
glory : " Bring ye all the tithe into the store-
house, that there may be meat in my house.
And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows
of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Such is the promise of God on which the be-
liever relies, but from which the unfaithful
mind turns with distrust. Tet how foolishly !
What hold have we or any one on his pos-
sessions? Are we rich and powerful ? "What
warrant have we that before a year is passed,
" our riches may not have made to them-
selves wings and flown away;" our great-
ness only made our fall the more remarkable ?
Or are we dependent on our vigor of mind
and strength of body for support? From
whom comes this vigor of body and mind?
.From Him whom we are perhaps defraud-
ing of his claim. Do we not then pro-

14:2 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

vote him to withdraw Iris gifts, and in %
that case where are we ? Wiser, surely, even
for this world is the man who with the con-
fiding spirit of a child walks in the path of
duty, aud leaves himself simply to the care of
God. He has a power on his side which or-
ders all things ; a wisdom which provides for
every want ; a love more tender of his safety
than the fondest parent's on earth. "That
which is presented to God," Hooker says, "is
neither lost, nor unfruitfully bestowed, but
sanctifies the whole mass ; and he by receiv-
ing a little undertakes to bless all. In which
consideration the Jews were accustomed to
call their tithes the hedge of their riches." It
is the remark of the greatest philosopher of
England in one of his 1 Essays, that great lov-
ers of themselves "are frequently unfortun-
ate. And whereas they have all their life
sacrificed to themselves, they become in the
end themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy
of fortune, whose wings they thought by
their self-wisdom to have pinioned." And
in exact agreement with this, the writer has
heard a friend of his, one who has seen much
of the world, and observed it very closely,
remark as the fruit of his observation, that
in the trying times, which have passed and
are passing over this country, he has seen

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 143

those who have been accustomed to give
freely of their substance in the cause of God
surmounting their difficulties, and those who
refused God's claim sinking beneath them.
Is it but the fulfillment of God's promise, and
we need not wonder at it. The examples of
Scripture present us with the same result.
We will refer briefly but to one, that of Ja-
cob. His vow at Bethel, doubtless, was per-
formed, and what was the consequence?
Listen to the words of the sons of selfish
Laban: "Jacob hath taken away all that
was our father's." Hear his own confession
of God's bounty : " With my staff I passed
over this Jordan, and now I am become two
bands." Kegard the wonderful history of
Joseph's life, a life fore-ordered for this
among other purposes, to supply to the faith-
ful patriarch abundance in the days of
dearth. And when the time for dying came,
and Jacob from the conclusion of life re-
viewed in memory its eventful scenes, he in-
cluded this in his most beautiful description
of the character of Jehovah, "The God
which fed me all my life unto this day."

. Again, the practice of this duty is the best
remedy against the sins of covetousness on
the one hand, and extravagance on the other.
The exercise of any grace is the most effect-

144: 3EASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

ual safeguard against the prevalence of its
opposite vice. It is, indeed, the only effect-
ual safeguard. " Break off thy sins by right-
eousness," said Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar,
"and thy iniquities by showing mercy to
the poor." The heart of man cannot be un-
occupied : it must be the seat either of good
or evil. Against that deadly sin of covetous-
ness, then, the best resource is a glad compli-
ance with God's precept in the bestowal of
our substance. !Nbr is this to be thought a
trifling reason to influence us to this duty.
Most insidious, most fatal, and most common,
is the sin of covetousness. "The disease,"
says Dr. Chalmers, "is as near to universal
as- it is virulent. Wealth is the goddess
whom all the world worshippeth. There is
many a city in our empire, of which, with
an eye of apostolical discernment, it may be
seen that it is almost wholly given over to
idolatry." It begins, perhaps, with the spe-
cious plea of providing for the present and
future wants of one's family, and passing
through intermediate stages, ends not unfre-
quently in being idolized simply for itself, un-
til we see the fearful picture of the 'miser, de-
voted to the acquisition of money without any
reference to the gratifications it is capable of
procuring, and who, delighted in the posses-

MEASURE OF CHEISTTAJST LIBERALITY. 145

sion of imaginary riches, lives and dies amid
the realities of the direst poverty. ISTor is it
to be thought an unimportant consideration,
that the exercise of this grace tends very
materially to check that thoughtless extrava-
gance, which is as much opposed to the teach-
ing of God's word as it is productive of mis-
ery in this present life. If the Christian is
indeed to allocate a fixed and important por-
tion of his income in the cause of God, this
will almost of necessity compel him to look
somewhat closely to his means and to his
expenditure, lest by carelessness he be com-
pelled to break in upon that portion which
he now feels to belong to God.

Again, the practice of Christian liberality
and kindness is most conducive to our own
happiness. It was He who knew the human
heart, and the deep joy of a bountiful spirit,
who said, " It is more blessed to give than
to receive." It must be more blessed ; for
it is to be like God, the source and fountain
of blessedness. He is the great Giver from
whom all receive, and to whom none can
give. His joy, as relates to all without him-
self, consists in bestowing. The creation,
and preservation, and redemption of his
creatures, gives satisfaction to the infinite
mind. It is so, too, with man, in so far as

10

14:6 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LrBEEALTTT.

he lias not lost, and in proportion as he has
been restored to, his original condition, as
made "in the image of God." Behold the
deep joy of a mother over her infant inca^
pable as yet of making any return. The
anguish of her travail is forgotten in the de-
light of having brought a child into the
world; and, perhaps, no subsequent joy at
its filial affection or its success in life is so
heartfelt as that with which she affords it
nourishment, or bends over the cradle of
her child, who, whether waking or sleeping,
is unconscious of her love and care. And
so in" other matters where the heart is right.
~We are sure that Howard, the philanthro-
pist, was one of the happiest of men. "We
could never dream of comparing the happi-
ness of him who dwells all his life long amid
scenes of comfort and of elegance, and never
sacrifices an iota of his personal convenience
to the welfare of others, to his who, out of
an ample fortune, spent little of it on him-
self, who left the lovely scenes of England's
rural life, in which none took more sincere
pleasure, to pass his life in visiting the
gloomy prisons and the noisome lazarettos
of the world, to alleviate the sorrows bf suf-
fering humanity, regardless of the toil to
which he was exposed, and of the danger to

MBASTJEE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 14:7

.-which at last he fell a victim. The Chris-
tian poet could enter into his feelings-
could rest assured that he was no fit object
for pity, but rather of envy, whose love for
man led him

" To quit the bliss his rural scenes bestow,
To seek a nobler amid scenes of -woe."

Where selfishness and covetousness have
not dried up and extinguished the benevo-
lent affections, there is, indeed, a truer satis-
faction in their exercise than in the pleasure
we experience in receiving. It was such a
feeling that impelled one, whose name de-
served to be remembered, the Portuguese
Andrada, to continue in an African prison,
and laden with fetters, that he might con-
tinue to. console his fellow-prisoners. This
he preferred to his own personal freedom.
Of Bishop Burnet an anecdote is told which
illustrates this truth. One of his parishion-
ers was distrained for debt, and came to him
for some small assistance, when the bishop in-
quired of him how much would again set him
up in his trade. The debtor named the sum,
which a servant was immediately ordered to
pay him. " Sir," said the domestic, " it is all
we have in the house." " "Well, well," replied
Burnet; "pay it to this poor man; you do

14:8 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

not know the pleasure there is in making a
man glad." We have seen already in Scrip-
ture the deep joy of Israel on those occa-
sions when the nation was most forward in
its offerings to God. .As Shakspeare has
beautifully described the bounty of Marls
Antony by the expression, "There was no
winter in it," so in him to whom God has
given the grace to be "a cheerful giver,"
there can be no winter of gloom and dis-
content, the bountiful spirit is a perpetual
source of satisfaction, his good deeds to
others, for Christ's sake, return into his bo-
som a hundredfold.

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 149

CHAPTEE XHI.

BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS."

HAVING brought our subject to its close, it
only remains for us to say a very few words.
The subject of which we have endeavored
to treat is beyond any doubt one of great
importance, both as regards the honor of
God and the state of our own souls before
him. On the one hand, there is his cause
to uphold and advance in a world which
knows him not. Shall we refuse to uphold
it ? On the other hand, there is the fatal
tendency of covetousness, a sin most insidi-
ous and most prevalent to guard against, if
we would enter into life.

"Who is covetous?" is a question often
asked, but to which very few indeed can be
brought to reply, "I am the man." And
yet covetousness is a sin spoken of in the
Scriptures in numberless places, described
as most common, and as possessing a deadly
power over the soul which has admitted it.
It would then be a great advantage if we
could by any means help ourselves in find-
ing out whether we may be ourselves, with-

150 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

out suspecting it, more or less under its
dominion. To value riches is not to be cov-
etous. They are the gift of God, and, like
every gift of his, good in 'themselves, and
capable of a good use. They are among the
other talents which have been bestowed by
the Creator on his creature. To overvalue
riches to put them into a position in our
hearts which God did not design them to
fill this is covetousness. The sin to which
it is most allied, and with which it is indeed
identical, is idolatry. IsFow the essence of
idolatry is the preference of the creature to
the Creator, in whatever way this may ap-
pear. Idolatry causes man to abandon God
for something else, either openly or at heart;
and when man turns to God, he also leaves
his idols. "We will accordingly find that
that love of riches, which is branded in
Scripture as covetousness, is such a love of
them, and such a regard for them, as takes
from man his trust in God, and transfers it
to his possessions. Jeremiah, warning the
covetous, says, "Let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
the Lord." David -describes the covetous
man as he that "made not God his strength,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches."

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 151

But then the question comes, How is this
trust in riches and distrust in God to be
known? 'How is the covetousness of the
heart to be distinguished ? We know of no
test more effectual than this, namely, Are
we willing, or do we refuse, to part with
such of our substance as God requires at our
hands ? If we are willing to do so, not in
any self-righteous spirit, as though by this
means we made God our debtor, but as obe-
dient children, preferring his will to ours,
and taking him as our sufficient and unfail-
ing portion, then we may reasonably con-
.clude that wealth is not our idol. If we
refuse to do so if we cannot bear, at his
command, to part with a portion or with the
whole of our substance, in reliance on his
promise of provision, it is then but too plain
that we have placed riches in God's room,
and are. idolaters of them. The ruler that
came to Jesus was a covetous man, because
being commanded by his Lord to part with
all he had, and refusing to do so, he showed
that his heart was more set on them than on
God, and his trust in them stronger. He
saw more to confide in in his -houses, and
lands, and money, than in that which Christ
would provide for him instead, implied in
the words, "Come and follow me." The

152 MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY.

Israelite was covetous that refused to pay to
God his tithe, because he so indicated his
preference of present worldly substance to
the care and promise of God; he thereby
virtually said, " If I give up this, and confide
in God, it will 'be worse for me." ]STow if
we have established the principal object of
this essay, and shown that our obligations to
God are at least as great as those of Israel
were, it will then be plain that we have for
ourselves the same test of covetousness. If
God requires of us a tenth for himself, and
tells us, in lieu, thereof, to accept his care,
protection, and.love, as our ample provision,
and we refuse Ms offer, and -prefer our visible
and tangible means to his promises, then we
think that the sin of covetousness attaches
itself to us.

Let us, then, well weigh what has been
said upon this subject. There seems to be
much in favor of the conclusion we have
come to, and are ignorant that any serious
objection can be raised against it; for surely,
when the cause of God requires it, and when
that cause has been intrusted to. us, we can
give no good reason for bestowing less upon
it than it was Israel's duty and Israel's privi-
lege to give. "We would then, in conclusion,
seriously and affectionately put it to the

MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 153

readers conscience to ask himself, after fairly
and dispassionately reviewing the reasons we
have given, Is there force in them, or not?
If it be allowed that there is, we will then
only ask, Is nothing to follow from this
allowance ? Is it to be on our part a nomi-
nal admission of God's claim, but a practical
independence of its authority, like the empty
homage which a powerful vassal or province
pays to a feeble superior ? But God is not a
weak king, and let us beware how we trifle
with his claims. Let us rather, however,
regard his love and kindness as our strongest
motive to obedience, and to Him who made
and preserved and redeemed us let us gladly
give of that which he has given us.

THE

OB,

IN WHAT PEOPOBTION SHOULD A BELIEVEB IN BETE-

LATION DEDICATE HIS PEOPEETT TO THE

CAUSE OF GOD?

See that ye abound in this grace also. 2 Cor. viii, T.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PASS
L THB BIBLE 169

II. ABRAHAM 169

HI. JACOB '. 181

IV. MOSES. 190

1. The first tithe, p. 192; 2. The second tithe, p. 194;
8. The tithe for the poor, p. 195; 4 The Levite's tithe,
p. 19T; 5. Stated services, p. 193; 6. "Various sacrifices,
p. 200; 7. Tree-will offerings, p. 201.

V. THE DAY OF PENTECOST 205

VI. MACEDONIA AND CORINTH 220

VIL THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK 237

VHL EXAMPLES 267

1. The Tabernacle, p. 268; 2. The Temple, p. 275; 8. The
widow of Sarepta, p. 282 ; 4 The widow's mite, p. 285.

IX. MISCELLANEOUS 291

1. Precepts, p. 292; 2. "Warnings, p. 297; 8. Promises,
p. 803; 4 Prophecies, p. 807.

X. CONCLUSION 314

THE

SCEIPTTJEE EULE

OP

RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION.

CHAPTEE I.

THE BIBLE.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the testimony
of the Lord is sure, making -wise the simple. PSA. xix, 7.

"To the law and to the testimony; if they
speak not according to this word, it is be-
cause there is no light in them." It is in
the spirit and under the solemn impression
of this divine testimony the subject of con-
tributing our property to the cause of God
should be discussed and determined. To
" search the Scriptures " is a duty command-
ed by Christ, and comprehends not merely
an investigation of what is taught respecting
himself, but also of all the duty which we
are required to render him. "What may we
learn of him ? and, What shall we do for
him? are both questions to be referred to
the authority of Scripture, and to be decided

160 THE SOKIPTUBE RULE

by it. "What saith the Lord" on the duty
of devoting our substance to him ? this is
the inquiry now to be entered upon, and this
is the manner in which it is to be pursued
to a satisfactory conclusion.

At the outset of such an investigation it
may be necessary to consider whether it has
pleased God to lay down, in his word, any
specific rule of religious contribution. Is
there any Scripture law upon the subject?
Or has it been left to every one to determine
the matter for himself, according to his cir-
cumstances, and agreeably to his own sense
of duty ? Most assuredly men have acted
as if God had given no specific rule. So
far as appears to the eye of an observer,
there does not seem to pervade the Christian
Church any anxious concern, any jealousy
of spirit, lest there should be a law of God
in this matter which is not obeyed. Even
the public teaching of the pulpit and the
press has not given a uniform and " certain
sound." A spirit of hesitation and doubt-
fulness has prevailed extensively. There
have been noble exceptions, in both the
principles inculcated and the practices pur-
sued by many persons ; yet as to the pre-
vailing views and habits of the members of
the Christian Church, it is notorious that

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 161

they have not recognized the duty of enter-
taining any decided views or of pursuing
any determined practice. Go into any of
our most enlightened and best-organized
Churches meet its members as they come
away with warm hearts and weeping eyes
from the table of the Lord propose to
each of them the plain question, How much
of your income do you believe it to be your
duty to give to the Lord, and in what pro-
portion is it your habit to employ it? and
who does not know that generally no answer
could be obtained? The majority, it is to
be feared, have not considered, far less de-
termined, the question, " How much owest
thou to thy Lord ?" And as to those who
have sought and discovered and walked in
the right path, alas 1 it may be said, " few
there be that find it."

A few years ago a great impulse was
given to the cause of Christian generosity
by the publication of a volume under the
title of "Mammon; or, Covetousness the
Sin of the Christian Church. By the Rev.
John Harris." In that volume the follow-
ing sentences occur at pages 245-7, (nine-
teenth thousand) : " What proportion of our
income ought we to devote to charitable
uses? If Christian love be permitted to

11

162 THE SCRIPTURE BULE

answer this question, and assign the amount,
there is no reason to fear a too scanty allow-
ance. On the other hand, if selfishness be
suffered to decide, there is ground to fear
that even an inspired reply, could such be
obtained, would be heard only to be over-
ruled. Besides which, the gospel of Christ,
in harmony with its great design of estab-
lishing a reign of love, leaves its followers
to assess themselves. It puts into their
hands, indeed, a claim upon their property,
but leaves the question, Jiow much? to be
determined by themselves. In assisting,
them to fill the blank with the proper as-
sessment, the only step which it takes is to
point them to the cross of Christ ; and,
while their eye is fixed there in admiring
love, to say, 'How much owest thou unto
thy Lord ?' ' Freely ye have received, free-
ly give.'

" It is observable that Abraham and Ja-
cob, on particular occasions, voluntarily de-
voted to God what afterward became a
divine law for the Jewish nation a tenth of
their property. "Without, implying that their
example has any obligation on us, we may
venture to say that one tenth of our whole
income is an approved proportion for charity
for those who, with so doing, are able to

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION.

support themselves and families. For the
more opulent, and especially for those who
have no families, a larger proportion would
be equally easy. For some, one-half would
be too little ; while for others, a twentieth,
or even a fiftieth, would require the nicest
frugality and care. Indeed, of many among
the poor, it may be said, that if they give
anything they give their share, they cast
in .more than all their brethren." It is
cheerfully and gratefully acknowledged that
the volume from which these sentences have
been extracted proved to be seasonable and
salutary in no inconsiderable degree. It is
eloquent, earnest, and effective. On this
special topic, however, to which the quoted
passage refers the proportion of contribu-
tion to income a few strictures may be
permitted, and are required. Without at
all entering on other exceptions which have
been taken to the volume on the ground of
a defective statement of Christian doctrine,
its views of proportionate giving may be
fairly disputed. It is worthy of observation,
that in the whole book this is the only pas-
sage directly referring to that branch of the
subject. So far, therefore, as it is concerned,
that topic requires yet to be discussed. It
is at least too important to be so slightly

164: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

dismissed. There is, besides, a hesitation in
the manner of setting forth what the law of
the Scriptures is upon the subject, which
greatly weakens its force. It is not misrep-
resenting it to say, that it recognizes no spe-
cific law of giving now binding on the con-
science and practice of the Christian. It is
taught, that " the gospel of Christ leaves the
question, how much? to be determined by
Christians themselves," that while "we
may venture to say that one tenth of our
whole income is an approved proportion of
charity," this is to be understood only of
" those who, with so doing, are able to sup-
port themselves and families," that there
are some for whom to give " a twentieth or
fiftieth would require the nicest frugality
and care," and that " of many among the
poor it may be said, if they give ami/thing
they give their share." Are these represen-
tations in accordance with the revealed will
of God ? "We hold that they are inconsistent
with it. It is our belief that a law for the
regulation of giving is laid down in the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament.
It is our conviction that no one, taking these
for his guide, can devote less than a tenth
of his available income to the cause of God.
He may give more, as much more as he will

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 165

or his circumstances warrant, but less he
cannot possibly give and act consistently
with the inspired standard of man's duty.
The case of a pauper in a poorhouse may be
pleaded against this view ; but what income
has he ? He has none, and where there is
no income there is no obligation. Let that
pauper, however, receive a shilling from the
passing visitant, and he is bound to recog-
nize the claim of God to at least the tenth.
Yes ! and he may devote it to him with as
high a principle and as holy an affection as
he who gives his thousands out of his great
abundance. Or we may be told of others
who are sunk in debt and under obligations
which they are unable to discharge; but
what comes to them is not their own, it is
the just property of their creditors, and can
only pass through their hands to them.
Every man must be able to say with David,
in his religious contributions, " I have of my
own proper good given to the house of my
God." Let the subject be cleared of all ex-
traneous matter let the question stand in
its simplicity, "What proportion of his income
should a believer in Revelation dedicate to
the cause of God ? And without hesitation
it is affirmed he cannot consistently give less
than a tenth. It will be observed the phrase,

166 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

a fieliever in JRevelation, is used designedly,
for our appeal is to the whole word of God.
The Jewish and the Christian Scriptures are
not to be paraded against each other as
though they inculcated different or contrary
doctrines. They are together the exposition
of one system of religion. They contain
the records of various dispensations of re-
ligion, but the religion is throughout one and
the same. The same moral law pervades
the Old and New Testament. Their princi-
ples are identical. These are taught in a
peculiar manner under the ancient economy,
and they are brought out differently under
the present dispensation. Essentially and
substantially they teach the same lessons.
Our inquiry, therefore, will lead us to inves-
tigate the instructions of both on the subject
of giving to the Lord. Beginning with the
early intimations of the divine will, we shall
be carried forward to the meridian light of
the last and best economy. The subject is
regarded to be so important as to have a
prominent place in all parts of divine Reve-
lation. Our object shall be to compare
scripture with scripture, and so learn the
will of God. Their scattered light will be
viewed apart, and then, brought together,
shall be made to converge their rays on the

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 167

one subject. Thus in the light of the Lord
we hope we shall see light.

In conclusion, if God has given a law, it
ought to be known and obeyed. Great in-
jury has arisen to the cause of Christ from
the indistinct and undecided views which
have prevailed respecting the duty of re-
ligious contribution. "We may give, or we
may withhold ; we may give little or much,
every man may do what is right in his own
eyes this is the doctrine which has guided
the Church too long. On the contrary, we
hold that "God hath spoken once, yea,
twice ;" that he has plainly made known his
will in his word ; that he has given a law to
regulate the conduct of Jews and Gentiles ;
that no believer in his word can consistently
give less than the tenth of his income to the
cause of God ; that he ought to know this,
and act upon it ; and that he cannot neglect
to do so without sin. For these statements,
we "bring forth our strong reasons" from
the divine record. While we do so, let us
" tremble at the commandment of the Lord."
Great evil and neglect have arisen from the
members of the Church being hitherto " at
ease in Zion" on this important question.
May much good arise from the prevalence
of another and a better spirit ! Something

168 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

needs to be done. There is indecision in the
counsels of the Church, and feebleness in its
efforts. Surely if its members saw their
duty and the law that God has given to regu-
late it, they would be roused to more con-
sistent and vigorous efforts. If any are of-
fended with our plainness, we can only plead
the word of the Lord. " We believe, there-
fore we have spoken." "We speak as unto
wise men, j udge ye what we say." The time
demands new views of duty, and all we ask
is, that the members of the Church of Christ
shall honestly inquire, " Lord, what wilt thou
' have me to do ?" Let us adopt the Psalmist's
prayer in reference to the duty into which
we are about to inquire, " Show me thy ways,
O Lord ; teach me thy paths. Lead me in
thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the
God of my salvation ; on thee do I wait all
the day." If "whatever is not of faith is
sin," we must either be guided by the law
and authority of God's word in giving to
him of our substance, or our conduct in this
respect must meet with the reproof, "Who
hath required this at your hands ?"

OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 169

OHAPTEE n.

ABRAHAM.
He gave htm tithes of all. Gen. xiv, 20.

THE accomplished author of "Mammon,"
referring to the conduct of -Abraham and
Jacob in giving a tenth of their property to
God, uses the phrase, "without" implying
that their example has any obligation on us."
The meaning of this saying is by no means
clear. It would be injustice to interpret it
to signify that, in the writer's opinion, the
example of Abraham and Jacob should have
no influence upon us, although such a mean-
ing might fairly be ascribed to the terms em-
ployed. It must be explained as conveying
the sentiment that in this particular case we
are not bound to imitate their example.
Even so understood, however, its correctness
may be questioned. We cannot but regard
it -as one of those unsound interpretations
which prevail so generally on the subject of
religious contribution. For in these views
this distinguished author is far from being
singular. In an admirable sermon preached

170 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

before the London Missionary Society, by
the Kev. Dr. Brown, of Edinburgh, so long
ago as the year 1821, on the duty " of pe-
cuniary contribution to religious purposes,"
the following sentiment is expressed : " From
the circumstance of the tenth of the income
of the Israelites being appropriated by ex-
press divine law to pious purposes, it is surely
a fair conclusion, that among the middle and
higher classes in all ordinary cases, Chris-
tians should not devote a less proportion of .
their worldly substance to the service of
God." Why is the rule confined to the
middle and higher classes ? It is our convic-
tion that the Spirit of God did not so intend
it. The rule is one^of universal obligation.
To make this apparent is a prominent design
of these pages. And it is to enforce the ne-
cessity of proving and confirming such a
view that reference is made at all to such
eminent servants of the Lord as have been
named. Their views are, in our judgment,
defective, and not sufficiently explicit. We
think they have not done full justice to the
plainness and authority of the inspired rule
and practice. We are deeply solicitous to
place the subject in what seems to us to be
the proper aspect, to lay the duty of giving
to God on its right basis, and with this ob-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 171

ject the following remarks are submitted on
the example of A braliam.

It is by no means a right principle to ap-
prove and imitate whatever is recorded to
have been done by the eminent servants of
God in other ages. Abraham did many
things that were reprehensible, and they are
narrated, with their consequences, for our
warning. Still, it is written, "Be ye follow-
ers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises," and Abraham is named
as one of them. A careful consideration of
each case must be- entered into in order to
ascertain whether it is designed to be an ex-
ample for imitation or a beacon for warning.
Its history will usually enable us to deter-
mine. As to the specific case before us, that
of Abraham, there can be no hesitation how
it is to be understood; it is expressly record-
ed that we may go and do likewise. "We
are bound to imitate him. Of this position
the evidence is full and clear.

An inspired writer in the Ifew Testament
expresses approval. of Abraham's conduct:
"Consider how great this man was, unto
whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the
tenth of the spoils." He speaks with high
respect of his character, as a distinguished
servant of the Most High, and in this par-

THE SCRIPTURE RULE

ticular instance applauds what he did. Al-
though, therefore, the incident is introduced
from the life of the patriarch for the illustra-
tion of another subject, yet the act which he
performed is approved, and in similar cir-
cumstances we are called upon to act in the
same manner.

There is something, indeed, very peculiar
and impressive in the record of this part of
Abraham's conduct. It is the first notice
contained in the Scriptures of the dedication
of any distinct proportion of property to God.
This circumstance alone increases its interest
and strengthens its obligation upon us. Its
novelty has a charm that ought to please and
captivate. In this instance, however, it is
the singular case of novelty in combination
with antiquity. While novelty pleases, an-
tiquity commands our reverence. If we
inquire after "the old paths," here they are,
and it ought surely to recommend them to
us that Abraham walked in them. The
traveler in Palestine enjoys the scenery the
more, as he thinks how the eyes of Abraham
gazed upon it, or his feet trod upon its sur-
face. "Why are we to be less impressed by
his higher mental exercises or moral engage-
ments ? As these are more exalted in their na-
ture, their claim is greater upon our attention.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 173

There is another feature in the manner of
the record not to be overlooked. The fact
is stated as to the conduct of Abraham, as
though there was nothing remarkable in the
mere act. It is given as if he had only com-
plied with a well-known usage. His dedi-
cation of the tenth of the spoils to the service
of God must have been in accordance with
the practice of the times or the known will
of God to accept it. In either case we are
entitled to infer a revelation had been given
of the divine mind upon the subj ect. It must
have been conveyed to Abraham either by
tradition from former ages or by an express
communication from heaven. He must have
been satisfied the law came from God, or he
would not have practiced it. "We do not ex-
pect to find will-worship in the " father of the
faithful " and the friend of God." The fact
that he gave the tenth is sufficient to prove
that he knew it to be in accqrdance with the
will of God, and this carries us to the con-
clusion that a divine revelation or law tad
been given upon the subject. It is custom-
ary to reason after this manner in other ques-
tions kindred to that in hand. The existence
of sacrifice in the time of Adam is held to be
a proof that its origin was divine. God ap-
pointed it, it is argued, or he would not have

174: THE SCRIPTURE KTJLE

accepted it, nor would Adam have offered it.
So also with the observance of the Sabbath
on the first day of the week our authority
is the example of the apostles. We infer
from their conduct that they had a divine
warrant for it, although there is not the
record of an express law. They would not
have acted as they did without knowing the
will of their Master. And this is all we re-
quire in the conduct of Abraham. It is to
be vindicated on the ground of a known law
which regulated the practice. And if so,
we are bound to conform to that law as well
as Abraham. His example is recorded for
our imitation.

"WTiat, then, is the amount of his example?
What was it that Abraham did? We have
no desire to press his example beyond its
legitimate boundary. He gave to.Melchize-
dek, the priest of God, the tenth of the spoils
he had taken in battle as he returned from
the slaughter of 'the kings. God had given
him the victory, and he thus acknowledged
the divine interposition and his own obliga-
tion. His example abundantly establishes,
that in every deliverance we should honor
God, and especially that we should declare
our sense of his goodness when he preserves
our property, by dedicating a portion of it

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 175

to him. We may go farther. If (rod is
pleased in his providence to increase onr
property, we should observe his hand in it,
and give at least a tenth to him. "Whether,
therefore, our property is preserved or in-
creased, the example of Abraham establishes
a divine claim to at least the tenth. Here,
then, we gain an undoubted rule of conduct
applicable to given circumstances in our sit-
uation. Our property, like that of Abraham
or Lot, for whom he contended, is continu-
ally exposed to destruction ; and if God pro-
tects or preserves it, we should devote to him
a tenth of whatever it is calculated to yield
us. We are continually receiving new favors
from the Lord, and whatever he confers we
should in like manner acknowledge him.
We will not at present press the inquiry how
far such a rule would cover the entire in-
come of every man. We are satisfied to
confine it to such special cases as may legiti-
mately fall under that of Abraham to that
portion of our property that has been pre-
served from danger or added to our former
store. Other cases will arise to extend the
rule. In the mean time there are certain
claims upon our imitation of the conduct of
Abraham which cannot be passed over with-
out special notice. " Know ye therefore that

176 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham." " Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise."
Abraham's faith was his peculiarity, and with
every genuine Christian it is the same. The
faith of Abraham wrought in his heart a
moral renovation, and the same faith is al-
ways productive of the same result. Faith
and regeneration are twin-sisters, ever found
associated, born together and strengthening
one another. Having therefore the mind
and heart of Abraham, his views and feel-
ings, we must act as he also acted. The same
principles produce the same practices in all
ages. As then "he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, even so it is now." As then he that
was taught by the Spirit and governed by
the Spirit acted toward God, " even so it is
now.". Abraham gave to God the tenth of
the spoils, and so will they act who inherit
the faith of Abraham and are entitled to be
called his children. The Christian soldier
returning with the prize of victory will dedi-
cate the tenth to God. The Christian mer-
chant, having rescued his property from
danger, will give the tenth of all it would
have yielded. The Christian minister, or
physician, or lawyer, whatever have been

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 177

the gains of his profession, will in the same
proportion lay his offering on the altar of the
Lord. The Christian man, in the humblest
or the highest circumstances of life, as the
Lord has rendered to him, so will he return
a corresponding measure for his service. All
that are of the divine faith of Abraham will
approve themselves his children, if they act
consistently, by doing as he did, and giving
as he gave.

ISTor let us omit to notice the situation of
Abraham, when he acted thus liberally to-
ward the cause of God. It was at an early
period of his history in the promised land.
As yet God had given him "none inheritance
in it, no,. not so much as to set his foot on."
It was long afterward he had to supplicate
as a favor from the children of Heth a spot
where he might bury his dead. He was " a
pilgrim and stranger in the land." And
although God had increased his flocks and
herds, yet still his situation and property
were apparently most insecure, and he might
be considered a poor and very dependent
man. But he gave the tenth of -all. How
readily might selfishness have found an ex-
cuse to withhold ! He might have pleaded
that he knew not how soon he might be in
straits, and that it was his duty to provide

12

178 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

against them. Or he might have argued,
since God gave him such spoils, he might
conclude it was the divine will he should
possess them all. But no thankful to God
and confiding in his providence, he gave to
him the tenth of what he had gained.
Where now shall we find an excuse for the
many apologies which our selfishness is wont
to plead ? The example of Abraham silences
them all. And the lesson is irresistible, that
in all circumstances, whether poor or rich,
we should acknowledge God in the preserva-
tion or increase of our worldly substance by
dedicating at least a tenth to him.

There was also a nobility in the conduct
of Abraham that cannot fail to command
our highest admiration. We have seen his
spirit toward God, let us look at his conduct
on the same occasion to men. "The king
of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the
persons, and take the goods to thyself. And
Abram said, I have lift up my hand unto
the Lord, the Most High God, the possessor
of heaven and earth, that I will not take
from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and
that I will not take anything that is thine,
lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram
rich ; save only that which the young men
have eaten, and the portion of the men

OF KELIQIOTTS CONTRIBIITION. 179

which, went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and
Marnre ; let them take their portion." Here
is an example of noble-mindedness. Gen-
erosity, wisdom, and justice, are united in
his high-minded decision. The meanness of
the world is overcome by the elevation of
right principles. He who is right-minded
toward God is generous and large-hearted to
man. He who gives to the cause of God is
the friend of every effort that breathes be-
nevolence to men.

What a contrast to Abraham is Lot ! He
went to Sodom to gain the world, and he
lost it there. He departed from God, and
he fell into the hands of bloody men. His
life and property were recovered, but he
was indebted for both to the Lord's servant.
He does not appear to have profited by the
chastisement, and he was driven at last out
of the wicked city, when he left his proper-
ty in the flames. His last refuge was in a
cave of the mountain, where he was aban-
doned to temptation and fell into sin. How
fearful must have been the accusations of
his conscience, for he was "a righteous
man !" He presents a fearful example of
what even a godly man may suffer from
worldliness. Let us be warned by his exam-
ple, and let it operate to present more clear-

180 THE SCRIPTTJKE KTJLE

Ij to our minds, and enforce more power-
fully on our hearts, that of Abraham, who
dedicated to God, gratefully and joyfully,
a tenth of all."

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 181

CHAPTEE in.

JACOB.

Of all that thon shalt give me, I -will surely give the tenth unto
thee. Gen. xxviii, 22.

WHAT creation is to the philosopher, such are
the Scriptures to the Christian. Each has
his own hook, although either should, and
often does, study them hoth. The botanist
goes into the fields and gardens, examines
their plants and flowers, classifies them ac-
cording to their properties, observes their
habits and influences, and from the whole
deduces the laws and principles by which
they are governed, and lays down the rules
by which his conduct toward them should
be guided. So does the astronomer proceed
in his observations upon the heavens, the
mineralogist with his rocks and stones, and
the metaphysician in his study of the human
mind. In like manner the student of the
Scriptures is occupied, whatever be the de-
partment of their varied contents to which
his attention is directed, their doctrines, or
precepts, or examples, or promises. It has
become fashionable to decry a systematic
study of the sacred volume ; but it may be

182 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

confidently asserted that he who does not so
study it will never properly understand it,
nor will he who does not so teach ever prove
successful in imparting instruction. It is on
this principle we are desirous of proceeding
in our present inquiry. We are collecting
facts out of the Scriptures that we may de-
duce principles and found rules of conduct
upon them. Our investigation is confined
to one species, as the botanist's to plants in
the field of nature. We wish to ascertain
what was done and approved in the matter
of contribution to the cause of God, that we
may learn our duty. We have seen how it
was in the case of Abraham, and we now
direct our attention to that of his most dis-
tinguished descendant, the patriarch Jacob.
It is worthy of notice that they both acted
on the same rule, that of devoting a tenth
to the Lord. It is therefore plain this was
an early and well-known rule of conduct.
They no doubt derived it from a common
source, and that, in all likelihood, was an
express divine command handed down from
the beginning to generation after generation.
There were many features common to the
two patriarchs, and their use of their world-
ly property. We have already remarked
on those which characterized the liberality

OF BELIGIOTTS CONTRIBUTION. 183

of Abraham, and, omitting the same traits,
so far as they are found in Jacob, we shall
confine our attention to what was peculiar in
him.

The first appearance of a generous spirit
in Jacob was on the occasion of his depart-
ure from his father's house, to escape the
fury of his provoked and injured brother
Esau, and when he had gone so far upon his
journey as Bethel. Previously to this time
there is reason to believe he was under the
dominion of a worldly and grasping spirit,
so much so as not to stop at plans of deceit-
fulness and acts of injustice. In concert
with his mother, Rebekah, he devised a
scheme to deceive his father, and possess
himself of the portion of his elder brother.
It is no excuse for his conduct that Provi-
dence had revealed to his mother how the
elder should be subjected to the. younger; it
was rather an aggravation of his sin, for he
and his accomplice should have confided in
that Providence to fulfill the divine promise
in his own lawful time and manner. Jacob,
therefore, is presented to us, in the truthful-
ness of the Scriptures, as in the outset of
life characterized by selfishness and cunning.
This constitutional temperament indeed ap-
pears again and again throughout his entire

184: THE SCEIPTUKE KULli

history. Though it was overcome by grace,
still nature often asserted its power. And
many were the troubles into which the pa-
triarch was brought by the remainder of this
indwelling sin. He had a struggle all his
days, and did not always come off victorious.
It is interesting and instructive to observe the
providence and power of God breaking this
natural propensity of Jacob's corrupt heart.
"What first strikes us with surprise is, that
his very sin was overruled to be the occasion
of its own overthrow. His love of the world
led him into sin, and that sin drove him from
his father's house. He sought all his father's
property, and he was driven from it all. So
soon did a retributive Providence overtake
him, but it was guided by mercy. " Where
sin abounded grace did much more abound."
"When the outcast son reached the end of his
first day's j ourney, he sank down exhausted
in body and sad in heart. He felt his soli-
tary and desolate situation. We may assume
that he looked to God that night as he had
never done before. He laid himself down
to sleep in a frame of mind such as he had
never previously experienced, feeling that
God was his only refuge, and resolved to seek
him for his portion. The God of his fathers
was not unmindful of their penitent son.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 185

He was not forsaken in liis solitude and sor-
row. The Holy Spirit visited Mm with his
converting grace. "He dreamed, and be-
hold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the
top of it reached to heaven ; and behold, the
angels of God ascending and descending
upon it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham
thy father, and the God of Isaac." The prom-
ises made to them were then renewed to
him, and more were added. The mind of
Jacob was enlightened by this revelation of
God, and his heart was touched. From that
day he showed himself a child of God.. A
new nature was given to him, and he entered
upon a new course of life. One marked
change was from selfishness to generosity.
" Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be
with me, and will keep me in this way that
I go, and will give me bread to eat and rai-
ment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace ; then shall the Lord
be my God, and this stone which I have set
for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all
that thou shalt give me I will surely give the
tenth unto thee." What a gracious change !
Before all was for the world, and all the
world would hardly satisfy him ; now he
asks only what is necessary for a sustenance !

186 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

Before all was for self, and nothing for God :
now all is for God, and self is overlooked.
The connection between the conversion of the
soul and liberality to the cause of God is very
marked. No sooner is that blessed change
produced than this effect follows from it.
The Apostle Paul expresses the same senti-
ment when he says, "They first gave their
own selves to the Lord, and then unto us by
the will of God." Jacob gave himself to God
in his conversion, and then his property.
There is no doubt in some a natural generos-
ity when compared with others, but there is
no enlightened, enlarged, and consistent
generosity but such as proceeds from a new
heart under the dominion of grace. And
wherever the new heart is found, it is im-
pregnated with zeal for the glory of God and
a deep interest in the extension of his cause,
with a corresponding effort of labor and gen-
erosity of contribution. This generosity will
be no doubt much affected by the circum-
stances of the convert, although it be in all
radically the same grace. It will be interest-
ing to trace some of its outgoings in Jacob.

Like Abraham, he fixed on the tenth.
This is noticed again only to impress it on
the attention. That was the acknowledged
standard, and wherever grace renewed the

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 1ST

heart, its subject embraced tlie law of God
as its guide.

Unlike Abraham, Jacob's dedication was
not confined to one occasion or one posses-
sion. It comprehended his whole life and
his whole property. As long as he lived he
would dedicate this portion of his substance
to God, and whatever he possessed, the tenth
of it should be the Lord's.

Bringing these two cases of Abraham and
Jacob together, what a rule do we discover
for the guidance of all who would be gov-
erned by the law of Revelation ! On all
special occasions of the preservation or in-
crease of property there is to be a special
dedication of a tenth. Of all ordinary and
stated income there is to be the dedication
of a tenth. Can it for a moment be supposed
it was by a mere accident-the two patriarchs
fell upon the same amount of contribution ?
Or is it to be supposed that either fixed the
sum of his own mere will and pleasure ? The
tone of approval with which the conduct of
both is narrated shows how agreeable it was
to God, and we are shut up to the conclusion
that they both adopted for a guide the law
which their God had given, and that it is
morally binding now as much as it was then.

This is not a little confirmed by what after-

188 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

ward occurred in the life of Jacob. It ap-
pears that he forgot his vow, solemnly as he
had made it. God granted him more than
he sought. He returned to his father's house
in peace, and greatly enriched. Yet the
stone which was to be God's house, and to
which his property was to be dedicated, was
forgotten. He was therefore reproved and
summoned to the promised duty. "God
said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and
dwell there, and make there an altar unto
God, that appeared unto thee when thou
fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother."
The patriarch discovered a gracious disposi-
tion in an immediate and ready obedience.
He made it a season of a thorough reforma-
tion and revival in his household. It is par-
ticularly to be observed that he called to
mind the circumstances of his first dedica-
tion of himself to God, obtained fresh prom-
ises from God, and engaged with enlarged
liberality in the service of God. "He set
up a pillar in the place where God talked
with him, even a pillar of stone, and he
poured a drink-offering thereon, and he
poured oil thereon." The promised dedica-
tion was demanded by God when it was for-
gotten by his servant, and when it was pre-
sented it was accepted and approved.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 189

"What is the legitimate inference from the
conduct of Jacob? When his heart was
brought under the power of true religion, he
gave the tenth of his income to God. "Will
not every truly converted soul feel the power
of his example ? This patriarch is continu-
ally presented to us in the Scriptures as a
most approved servant of God. His faults
are not concealed, but recorded for our warn-
ing. Still his gracious excellence is much
commended, and his example is to be imi-
tated. Shall there be an exception to that
part of it which binds him to devote his
property to God? The Christian who ac-
knowledges the obligation of conformity to
the patriarch in other graces, but overlooks
this one, will require to assign a reason for
the exception. It is to be feared many fail
to imitate him in this respect who have not
considered how they are to be justified in so
doing. Let them think of the patriarch's
example, and they will see good cause to
follow it. They are as much bound to con-
form to him in this respect as in his agoniz-
ing prayer at Peniel. Both are recorded for
our benefit, and that benefit is gained only
when we do as he did. It is a Christian
purpose to say, " Of all that thou shalt give
me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."

190 THE SCKEPTTJBE RULE

CHAPTER IV.

MOSES.
The law was given by Moses. John 1, 17.

WE come now to a still clearer light, and to
a firmer footing. Abraham gave a tenth of
all the spoils, and there is reason to believe
he did so in compliance with an early and well-
known law of divine authority. Jacob vowed
he would give the tenth of all he possessed, and
lie came to this resolution whenever his mind
was brought under the power of truth, and
was made the subject of a gracious change.
It is a serious thing to depart from the prac-
tice of these men of God. If we have the
faith of Abraham and the piety of Jacob, we
shall assuredly do as they did, and at least
give the tenth of all we have to God. "We
are willing to rest the question here, and ask,
whether it is conceivable that any one hav-
ing the character of these patriarchs could
withhold this portion of his substance from
the service of Him who gave it all, especially
when he knows that this was their practice ?
"We are not left, however, to infer what our
conduct ought to be from that of others.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 191

God lias given a law, and we do well to con-
sider it. There is express statute, associated
no doubt with many temporary ceremonies,
yet substantially unchangeable and binding
universally and forever. Let it not be said
that since God publicly proclaimed this law
for the first time to the Jews, we are to infer
it had never been law before. Is it likely
that God adopted for a law what had previ-
ously become a prevailing practice ? How
much more probable it is that the prevailing
practice had originated in an ancient law,
given by God, yet of the first publication of
which we are not informed ? We find that
the law of the Sabbath was published to the
Jews in the ten commandments upon Sinai ;
yet that same law had been given at the be-
ginning, and we find it in the earliest records
of the creation. The original law, there is
reason to fear, had fallen into disuse, and
therefore it is solemnly renewed and sanc-
tioned. Even this reason, however, was not
necessary to justify its republication. The
same laws are again and again proclaimed
and enforced by their divine Author. This
remark is applicable to all the ten command-
ments. They were all laws of God before
they were published to the Jews. From the
beginning they had been the rule of human

192 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

conduct; jet where can it be shown that
each of them is, in so many words, to be
found? They were authoritative from the
first they were known to the servants of
God they were, more or less, obeyed by
them. And yet we find them embodied in
a special law for the guidance of Israel. "We
believe it to have been the same with the
law of giving to the Lord it had been en-
joined from the beginning, and it was pro-
claimed afresh and placed in new connec-
tions when God revealed liis will to Moses
and Aaron. The reenactment of this law is
a subject of deep interest, and its associations
are full of instruction. "We shall therefore
inquire with some minuteness into the ar-
rangements which God was pleased to pre-
scribe, and for this purpose shall place them
separately, as we find them in the ancient
code of Israel's laws.

I. THE FIRST TITHE.

" All the tithe of the land, whether of the
seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree,
is the Lord's ; it is holy unto the Lord."
" Behold, I have given the children of Levi
all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for
their service, which they serve, even the
service of the tabernacle of the cougrega-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 193

tion." The statute is explicit, and its special
requirements are worthy of careful observa-
tion, for they cast much light on the general
question under consideration. The lowest
proportion which the law could accept was
a tenth, conveying the sentiment that less
had never previously been given, nor could
less suffice now. The law of Moses was not
designed to reduce the claims of God on the
gratitude and offerings of his people. This
tenth was also exacted on all property, " the
seed of the land and the fruit of the tree "
alike. All came from God, and in all God
is to be acknowledged. " Of thine own
have we given thee," said David, and the
same is in all ages the language of piety.
And for what was this tenth demanded?
For the" children of Levi, a reward for their
service in the tabernacle of the congrega-
tion. It was for them as the ministers of
God. The end of the law was the glory of
Jehovah, that the knowledge and worship
of his name might be propagated and ex-
tended. Its essence lies in this, that God by
an express statute demands the tenth of our
property for the promotion of his cause.
The principle of the law is as binding now
as it was on Israel.

13

194: THE SCRIPTURE RULE
n. THE SECOND TITHE.

" Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of
thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year
by 'year. And thou shalt eat before the
Lord thy God, in the place which he shall
choose 'to place his name there, the tithe of
thy corn, of thy vine, and of thine oil, and
the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks ;
that thou mayest learn, to fear the Lord thy
God always." This was clearly a different
tithe from the former. That was given for
the support of the Levite, this for the main-
tenance of the various feasts and sacrifices.
Behold, then, the increased demand on Is-
rael : first a tenth for one purpose then a
second tenth for another so that by a per-
manent statute every Israelite was required
to give at least a fifth of his yearly income
to the Lord. Under former dispensations
we read only of a tenth. As the world
grows older the claims of God are not les-
sened. Privileges are increased, and respon-
sibilities are increased with them : " To
whom much is given, of them shall much be
required." The Jew might say, " What
advantage then hath the Jew ? or what pro-
fit is there of circumcision? Much every
way ; chiefly because that unto them were

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 195

committed the oracles of God." But as lie
thus reasoned he was summing up argu-
ments to enforce the claim of God on him-
self and his property. Let this principle
also he distinctly apprehended, for it will
come with mighty force when it is applied to
the privileges and responsibilities of the
best, the brightest, and the last dispensa-
tion.

HI. THE TITHE FOE THE POOR.

" At the end of three years thou shalt
bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the
same year, and shalt lay it up within thy
gate. And the Levite, (because he hath no
part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stran-
ger, and the fatherless, and the widow which
are within thy gates, shall come, and shall
eat and be satisfied ; that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the work of thine hand
which thou doest." It is doubtful whether
this third tithe be entirely distinct from the
other two already noticed, and therefore
whether it were an additional claim on Isra-
el. It may have been so, but the evidence
is not fully satisfactory. We found no argu-
ment therefore on that consideration, but we
cannot overlook this new appropriation of
property, this additional object of generosity

196 THE SCKIFrUKK KULE

proposed to Israel. " The poor shall never
cease out of the land ;" and one design of
this providence is to teach us gratitude for
our own mercies and kindness to the neces-
sitous. Generosity to the cause of God is
here linked with benevolence to man. It is
the same condition of mind that produces
the double fruit. " Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart and soul, and
mind, and strength, and thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." The love of man
springs out of the love of God. If we love
the Creator we shall love the creature whom
he hath made. The love of the father en-
sures the love of his child. Let none fear
that because much is demanded and done
for the cause of God, the interests of man
will be therefore likely to be neglected.
The reverse may be expected. And let
none excuse themselves by alleging they
have so much to do for man they can do
nothing for the cause of God. It is a mere
pretense. Jesus could say to God, "The
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," and at
the same time he healed the bodies and
saved the souls of men. He hath left us an
example that we should follow his steps.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 197

TV. THE LEVITTS' TITHE.

" Speak unto the Levites, and say unto
them, When ye take of the children of
Israel the tithes which I have given you
from them for your inheritance, then ye
shall offer up a heave-offering of it for the
Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe."

The Levite's concern with the tithes was
not merely to receive and enjoy them. 'He
had his own tenth to pay to Aaron and his
sons. "N'one were exempt in Israel. All
were recipients, and all must acknowledge
the bounty of God. The ministers of re-
ligion are not merely entitled to live by the
altar which they serve, they are bound to
devote of that which they receive to the
cause of God. The Apostle Paul applies the
former part of this statement to the minis-
ters of Christ, even adducing the Jewish
illustration, " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
that treadeth out the corn;" and it will not
be questioned that the latter part of it is
equally applicable under the Christian econ-
omy. The lesson is clearly taught that all
should devote to the Lord of that which they
receive. No rank or station can plead im-
munity. The higher the position the stronger
the claim. Ministers of the gospel especially

198 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

should feel the powerful claims that the
cause of God has upon them. They are
exalted to great honor as embassadors for
Christ. They should manifest the generous
spirit of the religipn which they teach.
They should be an example to the Church
in all things. But if they shall be 'so, the
people to whom they minister must consider
their liabilities. They cannot give of that
which they possess not. It is the duty of
the Churches to put it in the power of their
ministers to be examples of liberality. Li
doing so they consult their own interests.
In that respect they will find the saying emi-
nently true, that " it is more blessed to give
than to receive." They are just filling up
the reservoir which shall pour out fresh
streams of pure water to refresh and fertilize
themselves.

V. STATED SERVICES.

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and
say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the
Lord, which ye shall proclaim, even, these
are my feasts."

They were to be observed at all times
dayly, weekly, monthly, yearly, every
seventh year, every fiftieth year. Each of
these had its own peculiar claims and respon-

OF EELIGIOTJS CONTRIBUTION. 199

sibilities. One feature, however, marked
them all the expensive character of the
service. The Israelite might indeed say, "I
will not render to the Lord of that which
cost me naught." He could not do so. The
prescribed service was in itself a serious
claim. It is true there were services adapted
to the poor; but let it be remembered there
was no exception for the poor ; the poorest
must give. It is said in "Mammon" for
some to give " a twentieth, or even a fiftieth,
would require the nicest frugality and care."
This was not the spirit of the ancient law of
Israel.- Everyman received something, and
every man must give something. Where is
the exception releasing the poorest from the
tenth ? This law is as wise as it is stringent.
The poor man is benefited by the exercise
of the " nicest frugality and care." It is the
most salutary discipline for himself and his
household. It is the very habit which the
poor most need to form and cherish ; it ele-
vates the mind to save something for the
cause of God. . He knew human nature well
who has imposed this duty upon it. "He
needed not that any should testify of man,
for he knew what was in man." It is a mis-
take to lead the poor to think they have
nothing to do or to give to God. This is a

200 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

lesson never more required to be taught than
in our day. The rich are to give abundantly
out of their abundance, and the poor are to
give out of their poverty. God designedly
made his service heavy in the ancient econ-
omy. His demands never ceased, and none
were exempted.

VI. VARIOUS SACRIFICES.

" This is the law of the burnt-offering, of
the meat-offering, and of the sin-offering, and
of the trespass-offering, and of the peace-
offerings."

~No doubt these various services had main-
ly a typical meaning ; and veiy gracious the
instructions were which they were designed
and calculated to convey. In the burnt-
offering we behold the sacrifice of the Son
of God; in the meat-offering, the devoted
gratitude of the believer presenting himself,
all he is and has, as an offering to the Lord;
in the sin-offering and trespass-offering, that
life of faith upon the Son of God, and that
constant effort after purity of life which a
sense of sin and the love of holiness inspire ;
and in the peace-offering, the fellowship with
God, without which the renewed soul can-
not rest, with the manner in which it is to
be maintained, even through the peace-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 201

speaking blood of Christ. All this is true,
and it is important. Yet there is, besides, a
moral aim in all these institutes not to be
overlooked. Observe the state of mind
which they are calculated to produce and
foster. They require intelligence, consider-
ation, discrimination, frugality, and careful-
ness. They teach how much God demands
and how much we must do in order to ren-
der it. They enlighten, enlarge, and exer-
cise the mind. They train the soul to lofty
conceptions, to large . services, and to make
sacrifices for God. They teach us to make
religion our business, and they give us to
understand that the requirements of the Lord
at our hands are neither few nor small.

VIE.' -FREE-WILL OFFERINGS.

" These things shall ye do unto the Lord
in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your
free-will offerings."

Over and above all that has been describ-
ed, the Israelite might dedicate whatever
besides he desired unto the Lord. There was
a limit on the one side, and the law made
its demands, but there was no limit on the
other, and the devout soul might devote as
it would. In all who had a right frame of
mind this would not be a dead letter. Much

202 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

would be added to the requirements of the
law. As fresh occasions arose for gratitude
to God, in the preservation of health, recov-
ery from sickness, the increase of property,
or the prosperity of friends, God would be
acknowledged in all. This, therefore, is to
be added to what was noticed before as the
requirement of law and statute. A fifth pro-
portion of all was ' certainly demanded. It
may have been more, if the tithe for the
poor is considered to be distinct from that
for the Levite and that for the feasts. It is
not too much, on that interpretation, to as-
sume there was a fourth required. And when
to all these are added the vows and free-
will offerings, may it not be alleged that the
devout and consistent Israelite felt the claim
of God to be annually upon him for not less
than a third of the income which was gra-
ciously confided to him ?

This is the conclusion to which the review
of the ancient law of Israel has conducted
us. "We appeal to the impartial inquirer
whether we have not arrived at this issue
by an unvarnished statement of clear stat-
utes and undoubted facts. And now what
is the moral to be drawn from all? God has
shown us that he considered it good for Is-
rael to press his demands upon them at all

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 203

times and seasons for all pious and benevo-
lent purposes, and in all measures adapted
to the rich and the poor, and obligatory upon
all. This was the education he gave his own
children whom he adopted to train for him-
self. Was it not manifestly designed to
counteract the selfishness of the human heart,
and open within it a fountain of generosity
and benevolence ? As the water drawn from
the living well is renewed again with quick-
ened and enlarged supplies, so as the heart
is accustomed to give out of its fullness, the
streams of grace and providence supply it
afresh. The vapors that arise from the
earth gather into clouds, and thence distill
again to water and fertilize the ground
whence they first proceeded, and so he that
giveth getteth, he that does good receives
good, and as we yield ourselves and our prop-
erty to God we are filled with the fullness of
God. Truly is charity said to be twice
blessed blessed in him that gives no less
than in him that receives. With these facts
and views before us, it is confidently asked,
what proportion of his substance will the
believer in Revelation dedicate to the ser-
vice of God ? Can he give less than a tenth ?
Is he consistent ? And can he satisfy his own
conscience if he does so ? What is the law

204: THE SCKIPTUKE RULE

of the Bible, and of God its Author? Is it
optional with every man to give or withhold
as he pleases ? to give in what measure and
proportion he thinks proper ? "We are con-
firmed in the conviction that no enlightened
and consistent believer can devote less than
the tenth to the Lord of the annual income
which Providence has placed at his disposal
for the maintenance of himself and those who
are dependent upon him. " Let God be true,
but every man a liar." We think we have
spoken the truth of God, and stand on the
sure ground of his testimony ; let all beware
how they depart from it by a false or unsound
interpretation involving a great practical
question bearing mightily on the cause of
God in the earth.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBimON. 205

CHAPTER Y.

THE DAY OF PENTECOST.

All that believed were together, and had all things common.
Acts ii, 44

HEAR what the law saith ! What saith it ?
It saith that Abraham gave the tenth of the
spoils that Jacob gave the tenth of all he
possessed that Israel was required to give a
tenth to the Levite, a tenth to the feasts, a
tenth every third year to the poor, to give
constantly, to give for all pious and charita-
ble purposes, and over and above all that the
statute prescribed to give the free-will offer-
ings which gratitude and love might prompt.
This is what the law saith. "We leave it to
produce its effect on all who regard it ; and
we proceed now to inquire, What saith the
gospel? For this purpose we direct atten-
tion to its opening scene. That scene was
no doubt intended to give a faithful repre-
sentation, and convey a just impression of
the new economy what it was to be, what
it was to do, and what was to be expected
from it. On a full consideration it will be
found every way worthy of the gracious and

206 THE SCRIPTURE KTJUE

glorious dispensation which it was designed
to usher into the world.

At the outset let us inquire what we are
to expect from Christianity on the subject of
religious contribution. We are to remember
it is the consummation of a religion which
had been taught from the beginning. It is
somehow assumed by many that it set aside
all that had gone before, and was altogether
a new religion. This is a most unsound and
dangerous principle. What was merely cere-
monial and had served its purpose was cer-
tainly withdrawn, but - the great principles
inculcated from the first remained as they
were, and Christianity is simply Judaism
perfected. We are, therefore, not to expect
that on every subject treated under the first
dispensation we shall have new and distinct
instructions laid down in the second. The
lessons of Moses passed into the hands of the
disciples in the school of Christ, and the New
Testament did not supplant, although it more
fully explained and powerfully enforced, the
instructions of the Old Testament. These
remarks have an important bearing on the
subject before us. The views of giving to
the Lord, held and taught and practiced by
Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, are not disal-
lowed by Christ. They were not merely

OF KELIGIODS CONTRIBUTION. 207

ceremonial,, and have not ceased to be bind-
ing. . So far as they were founded on the
principles of human nature and the relations
of man to God, they are the same yesterday,
and to-day, and forever. They arise out of
the nature and necessity of our position to-
ward both God and man, and cannot cease
to be obligatory. We are therefore to study
the teaching and example of ancient patri-
archs and lawgivers on this subject, as much
as those who lived in their times, and served
.God under their dispensations. ISTor are we
to be surprised if we do not find any new and
explicit directions in the New Testament. . It
may be assumed these were given sufficient-
ly before. There are various subjects of
great moment in which this was manifestly
the course pursu'ed by the early Christian
Church. We may instance the admission of
the children of believers to the membership
of the Church by the iniatory ordinance of
baptism. It has often been remarked there is
no express appointment of that observance of
the ordinance in the JSTew Testament. But it
has been very properly replied, it was not ne-
cessary there should be any such fresh appoint-
ment. It had ever been the law of the Church
of God to receive the children of its members
into fellowship. Abraham and Moses alike

208 THE SCKIPTURE RULE

practiced it in their day. Christianity assumed
its existence. It did not abrogate it, and un-
less it could be shown that it did abrogate
it, the. observance must be regarded as con-
tinuing in all its force. Similar remarks
might be applied to the perpetuation of the
Sabbath. There is no fresh and express ap-
pointment of it under Christianity, yet the
judgment of the Christian Church has in all
ages been almost unanimous on the subject
of its perpetuity. Let the same view be
taken of religious- contribution, and it will,
show that the instructions drawn from Abra-
ham, Jacob, and Moses, remain in all their
authority, although a word had not been
added respecting it in the New Testament.

We make these remarks, however, not
because we fear to canvass the subject in
the light of the New Testament. Our object
is to maintain the place we have already
gained in this argument, not to lose the
weight of any consideration hitherto ad-
vanced, and to stand by the assertion of
right principles in the interpretation of the
word of God. With this understanding, we
now proceed to inquire what may be expect-
ed under Christianity, and what develop-
ment of its views in the grand opening scene
of that economy ? At once, then, it must be

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 209

felt by all that we are not to expect any ret-
rograde movement here. We are not pre-
pared to find that the gospel of Christ will
ask less than the law of Moses in the matter
of contribution to the cause of God. Ba-
ther would we expect to hear in relation to
it what is said of another duty : " A new
commandment give I unto you, that ye love
one another." Love had always been a
duty, and always was taught and required.
Tet it is denominated a new commandment.
It is new in one sense, although not in an-
other. It is new in the reasons by which it
is enforced in the gospel, and in the measure
in which it ought to be exercised. But it is
not new as though it became a duty now,
while it had not been such before. Just so
with the subject in hand. It might be said
of it in the same sense, " A new command-
ment give I unto yon." Moses taught the
duty of giving, but Jesus Christ taught it
more fully still. There are reasons for it
now which never existed before, and it ought
to be exercised in a degree far exceeding
the measure of former times. The light
which Christianity pours into the mind on
the great questions of time and eternity, re-
quires that we should put forth efforts and
make sacrifices to render time subservient to

14

210 THE SCKIPTUKE KULE

the interests of eternity, such as never were
made before. The views which the gospel
gives of the comparative value of the body
and the* soul should inspire an earnestness
and self-denial in the salvation of souls,
which could not have been expected under
darker dispensations. The obligations under
which Christians have been laid to Jesus, the
author and finisher of their faith, should
rouse to doing and suffering in his cause
altogether new in the earth. His life and
death are an argument which should tell on
the heart as none ever told before. His
honor should be an object for the promotion
of which all his followers should feel they
could never do enough. His command
should come upon them with a power which
they would feel it to be. impossible to with-
stand. He died for us, and we should live
to him. He gave himself for us, and what
shall we withhold from him? "What shall
we render to the Lord for all his benefits?
This is Christianity. What saith it on the
giving of our substance to the Lord ? Shall
its claims be supposed less than those of the
law ? If Abra"hain gave a tenth, and Jacob
a tenth, and Moses required a tenth, or a
fifth, or a third, what saith the gospel of
Jesus ? The very manner of its claim should

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 211

give it an increased power over us. It does
riot say, in so many words, a tenth, or a fifth,
or a third, or any prescribed proportion; it
does assume that its early lessons on these
subjects, delivered under former dispensa-
tions, are in the hands of all who now pro-
fess its higher and clearer revelations ; but
this assumed, it leaves it to the Christian
heart to decide the proportion of its contri-
bution. It is not indifferent whether this
shall be greater or less than it was of old.
It is jealous of its own honor. If there be a
falling back even to the calculations of the
law, the gospel is treated injuriously. If
there be satisfaction of mind with the old
truth, and if it is felt that when this is given we
have come up to the mark of duty, and need,
go no further, Christ holds himself dishon-
ored. But suppose even this to be withheld,
suppose an argument constructed out of the
very generosity of Christianity, that we need
not give anything, or that we may give less
now than they did in the old times, how
must such a spirit be regarded by our divine
Redeemer \ Are we to wonder if he shall
address to such the withering words, " Thou
wicked and slothful servant?" Christ has
not reduced his claims, although he makes
no bargain with his followers. He expects

212 THE SCRIPTTTKE RULE

that we shall say, "The love of Christ con-
straineth us." And he says by his apostle,
" Every man, as he purposeth in his heart,
so let him give ; not grudgingly nor of neces-
sity : for God loveth a cheerful giver."

With these general principles in view, let
ns look at the transactions of the day of
Pentecost, as illustrative of the generous
spirit which the gospel inspires. It was a
day of great expectation. " When the day
of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place." They had
been encouraged to expect singular blessings,
they had waited earnestly in prayer on God
that these might be dispensed, and now they
were met to receive them. It was a day of
the Spirit's power. This is what was prom-
ised and' what they obtained. "Suddenly
there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as
of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance." These
emblems of the Spirit were fitted to give
the apostles just ideas of his power. Who
can withstand the rushing mighty wind or

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 213

the devouring flame ? So under their minis-
try sinners would not be able to withstand
the Spirit by which they should speak. It
was therefore a day of powerful impressions.
As the apostles preached Christ, told of his
life and death and resurrection, the hearts
of the audience were smitten. Deeply con-
vinced of sin, they cried out, " Men and
brethren, what shall we do?" But they
were enlightened by the same power that
convicted them. They saw and owned them-
selves the murderers of the innocent Jesus,
but in his blood which they had shed they
saw a fountain opened that cleanseth from
all sin. Into that fountain they went by
faith, and were made clean. Nobly they
avowed their convictions. " They that glad-
ly received his word were baptized : and the
same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls." And now look at
this redeemed company. What distin-
guished them ? " They continued steadfast-
ly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
It was no mere momentary excitement. It
was a thorough, a sound, and proved to be a
permanent work of the Spirit. But there
was one feature of their case and character
which here deserves our particular attention,

214 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

as directly bearing on pur great subject.
" All that believed were together, and had
all things common, and sold their possessions
and goods, and parted them to all men, as
every man had need." An extravagant and
foolish impression has been taken up with
regard to this transaction. It has been as-
sumed that all the property which the dis-
ciples possessed they sold, and cast the prod-
uce into a common purse, that individual
property ceased to be held, and that in the
widest sense there was a community of
goods. ]STo such views are given in the pas-
sage. The meaning is, that the disciples did
what the urgency of the occasion required.
Those who possessed property sold what was
necessary to meet the emergency of their
circumstances. There was no force on any
believer to do so ; each did as his generosity
stimulated him. This is plain from the
words of Peter, subsequently addressed to
Ananias: "While it remained, was it not
thine own? and after it was sold, was it not
in thine own power ?" It was a proceeding
every way worthy of the first disciples, de-
cided, vigorous, self-denying, yet calm and
full of purpose. Thus viewed it presents the
duty of religious contribution, as connected
with the gospel of Christ, in a most instruc

OP RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION-. 215

tive and impressive aspect. It represents it
as the fruit of the Spirit. Wherever the
Holy Ghost takes possession of the mind, he
enlightens and enlarges it. He gives just
apprehension of duty, and stimulates the
mind to a proper frame for the discharge of
it. Especially does this transaction show us
what was to be expected under the new dis-
pensation. Thus it opened, and thus it was
to progress. O ! why have not scenes like
these been frequent or constant? The Spirit
has been grieved. The body of a cold pro-
fession has been left, but the warm spirit of
the gospel has been driven away. The king-
dom of God is among us in word, but not in
power. How cheering to contemplate this
scene with which the gospel economy open-
ed! The selfishness of the human heart
was overborne. Love took possession of the
minds of the disciples. Zeal for their Mas-
ter's cause and honor inflamed them. Theirs
was a spirit equal to the occasion to which
God had called them. And it was to them-
selves a blessed season. " Continuing dayly
with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, they did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart, praising God, and having favor with
all the people. And the Lord added to the

216 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

Church dayly such as should be saved."
When we do our duty and act faithfully, we
have our reward. These disciples enjoyed
it in their own bosom richly, and in the
prosperity that attended the cause that was
dearer to them than life. ISTor let us omit to
notice the fearful confirmation which very
soon after was given to these views of this
blessed day. " A certain man named An-
anias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a posses-
sion, and kept back part of the price, his
wife also being privy to it, and brought a
certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan
filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and
to keep back part of the price ? Why hast
thou conceived this thing in thy heart?
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
The sequel is well known. The judgment
of the Lord fell upon them, and the deceit-
ful husband and the consenting wife were
speedily laid in one dishonored grave. Their
sin was deception and falsehood, proceeding
from pride and worldliness. They need not
have sold their property. Probably no one
had asked them. But they wished to have
the glory, and yet indulge their selfishness.
It is a fearful reproof of a parsimonious
spirit in the things of God and religion. It

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 217

was a faithful warning of what might be
expected from sinful men, yet no less a dis-
tinct intimation of what the gospel deserved
and demanded.

Thus Christianity opened, and now wo
apply the argument. What are we to ex-
pect from those who yield themselves up to
the dominion of Christ? In the light and
under the impression of the day of Pentecost
let the answer be given. Has Christianity
reduced its demands on the generosity of its
disciples? Are they expected to give more
or less to the cause of God than did Abra-
ham, Jacob, and Moses ? If a tenth was the
least under former economies, shall that suf-
fice now? Shame would not permit us to
say it ought. " Ye are not your own, ye are
bought with a price ; therefore glorify God
in your body and spirit, which are his."
And if this is the demand upon us, what of
our property? Let the parable of the talents,
spoken by Jesus himself, answer the ques-
tion. He who received five talents made
them ten for his master ; he who had two, by
trading made them four; and he who had
one hid it, and neither wasted nor employed
it he returned it as he had received it.
The first two were approved and rewarded,
but to the third it was said, "Thou wicked

218 THE SCKIPTUKE KULE

and slothful servant, tliou oughtest to have
put my money to the exchangers, and then
at my coming I should have received mine
own with usury." And this was the sen-
tence passed upon him "Take therefore the
talent from him, and give it unto him which
hath ten talents. For unto every one that
hath shall be given, and he shall have abun-
dance ; but from him that hath not, shall be
taken away even that which he hath. And
cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer
darkness : there shall be weeping and gnash-
ing of teeth." Let it be observed, this man
is called " wicked and slothful," and yet the
amount of sin charged upon him is simply
neglect to be diligent in the cause of God.
How, then, in the judgment of Christ, must
it be with the man who neglects to give to
the promotion of his cause ? The answer may
easily be given. Nor is it easier than it is
to determine what are the relative claims of
the law and of the gospel. If the law, by
express statute, demanded a tenth, what does
Christianity, without a statute, demand ? It-
has certainly not abrogated the law of the
ancient economy, but it has powerfully in-
spirited it. It were a slander on the gospel
to suppose it lowers the claims of Christ and
his cause. No, no ; it elevates and enlarges

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 219

them, and like itself it raises all who truly re-
ceive and consistently obey it to a high, holy,
and honorable standing before God and men,
where, with the cross full in view, they ask,
What shall I render to the Lord for all his
benefits ?

220 THE SCKEPTURE BULB

CHAPTER VI.

MACEDONIA. AND COKINTH.

The grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. 8 Cor

viii, 1.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Cor. is, 15.

THUS begins and ends a statement of prin-
ciples, and an argument founded upon them,
illustrating and enforcing the duty of giving
to the Lord, which, if accepted and acted
upon by the Church of Jesus Christ, would
issue speedily in filling the earth with the
fruits of righteousness. It may be said,
when we set forth the transactions of the
day of Pentecost, That was a peculiar season,
a time of excitement and powerful impulse ;
but it did not continue, and could not be ex-
pected to continue, and does not apply to
ordinary times and persons. "Without at all
admitting that this is a proper statement, we
do not stop to dispute it, but we proceed at
once to a case neither extraordinary nor ex-
citing. We claim attention to the Apostle
Paul sitting calmly to dictate what the Spirit
desired him to write, coolly narrating what
was done by one Church, and drawing rea-
sons from it to regulate the conduct of an-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 221

other. We will also present his account of
the matter in a way the most remote possi-
ble from that which is fitted to produce any
excitement. We will apply ourselves to a
plain and simple exposition of what he said,
doing little more than fixing attention on
verse after verse, allowing it to speak for
itself, and offering a few explanations which
none can dispute. Only let it be remem-
bered, as we do so, that we are using the
language, and employing the arguments, of
the Holy Spirit of God, and which he intend-
ed to form the faith and regulate the conduct
of Christian Churches, till the final consum-
mation of all things.

MACEDONIA, 2 CORINTHIANS vili, 1-5.

Yer. 1. " Moreover, brethren, we do you to
wit [we call on you to witness while we in-
form you of] the grace of God bestowed on
the Churches of Macedonia."

He invites them to admire what had taken
place in them. He ascribes it entirely to
the gracious operation of the Spirit of God.
They would themselves have been the first
to exclaim, " ISTot unto us, O God, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory." Still it
is not to be overlooked that the Divine Spirit
does make his servants objects of admiration.

222 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

He beautifies them with his salvation. He
puts his own image upon them, and he makes
them beautiful through his comeliness. Kor
is it wrong, it would seem, to notice and ex-
press our admiration of the Christian loveli-
ness. Great care, it is true, should be taken
in speaking of it to themselves, lest it should
become a temptation to pride. Circum-
stances, however, may arise when it is both
lawful and proper, for the sake of encourage-
ment, to do even that. But, whether or not
we may speak of it to others, for there is
here the example of an apostle, and that too
in the most public manner, not merely spo-
ken, but published and handed down from
generation to generation, so that, as in the
case of Mary, it may be said, "Wherever
the gospel of the kingdom is preached, there
it is told for a memorial of them."

Yer. 2. " How that in a great trial of afflic-
tion, the abundance of their joy, and their
deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of
their liberality."

This is the special grace which was so esti-
mable in the judgment of the apostle and of
the Spirit by which he spake, and which he
calls upon the Corinthians, and all others, to
admire. The grace itself is beautiful,liberality
in the service of the Lord. It is a fruit of the

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 223

Spirit. It is a. triumph, over the selfishness of
the human heart. It spreads happiness as far
as it goes. It assimilates its subj ect to God, who
delights in doing good. And it is a noble tes-
timony to the power and grace of the gospel.
In the circumstances of those who exercised
it, however, it was greatly enhanced. It was
in the midst of deep poverty and affliction;
yet it abounded, and that joyfully. Their
own affliction might have swallowed up their
sympathies, their poverty might have been
a ready excuse for neglect ; but no, in spite
of all obstacles, the gracious affection of love
for others burst out. It urged its way through
every obstruction, overcame all difficulties,
and triumphed in alleviating distress and
promoting happiness. The grace was every
way worthy of admiration.

V"er. 3. " For to their power, I bear record,
yea, and beyond their power, they were will-
ing of themselves."

Their charity was spontaneous, vigorous,
and efficient; like the living well, the waters
came of their own accord. It reminds us of
the words of Jesus, "The water that I shall
give shall be in him a well of water spring-
ing up unto everlasting life;" Grace is ex-
haustless, because it is supplied by the infi-
nite Spirit. The disposition is strengthened

2M THE SCRIPTURE RTJLE

by exercise. And like the source, so are the
streams that flow from it. They go gushing
out in strong and rapid movement. They
are not as those who say, "Be ye warmed
and filled, nevertheless they give them not
those things which are needful to the body."
The warm heart puts forth the ready hand,
and the generous spirit opens it wide to dis-
pense its gifts. It knows the luxury of doing
good, and only follows the propensity of its
renewed nature.

Yer. 4. "Praying us with much entreaty,
that we would receive the gift, and take
upon us the fellowship of the ministering to
the saints."

"What a scene ! The giving and receiving
of the rich and poor a means of Christian
fellowship, and an inspired apostle the me-
dium of maintaining it ! All the entreaty is
on the side of the rich, that they may be per-
mitted to give ; and they ask the good offices
of the apostle, that they may be indulged in
charity. Compare that scene of apostolic
times with the poor-laws, and the distribu-
tions, and the distributers of our day. "Where
is our religion ? or is the real spirit of it, as
manifested of old, to be found on earth ? We
speak of apostolic Churches and apostolic
practices. Here they are. Are our Churches

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 225

and practices like these ? So far as they are,
they are apostolic; so far as they are not,
they are not apostolic.

Yer. 5. "And this they did, not as we
hoped, but first gave their own selves to the
Lord and unto us by the will of God."

They far exceeded all the expectations and
hopes which the apostle had formed and
cherished. But he reveals the secret of all.
They had given themselves to God, and
what then would they withhold from him or
his people? And this, alas ! reveals another
secret. It. makes an awful, disclosure .which
it may be unpleasant to divulge. It teaches
the reason of the want of liberality to the
cause of God, even the want of religion. It
traces the closed hand to the shut heart. It
brings us to the foundation of things. And
as we cannot expect to raise a superstructure
where there has been no foundation, so we
need not look for doings of liberality where
there is not a renewed heart. " Who can
bring a clean thing/out of an unclean? JSTot
one." "Can the fig-tree bear olive-berries?
either a vine figs ?" .

Such, as described by the pen of inspira-
tion, were the Churches of Macedonia. They
were the first Churches in Europe. The
apostle was called there in a vision by the

15

226 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

cry, "Come over and help us." He found,
when he went, that the Lord had work for
him to do. There he saw the gospel entering
the heart of Lydia, like the sun rising gently
and gradually, and pouring its light into a
darkened world. And there he saw its con-
flict with the hard-hearted jailer of Philippi,
and force from him the cry, " "What must I
do to be saved ?" The Church in other times
was worthy of its origin. It maintained its
high character years after, when the apostle
wrote of it and held it up as an example to
others. How many Churches are like it?
How is the gold become dim, and the fine
gold changed ! Yet the obligation to imitate
it still remains, as we shall now see, by con-
sidering the apostle's exhortation, founded
on what he had said to the Church of Christ
at Corinth.

CORINTH. 2 CORINTHIANS viii, 6-9; ix, fr-8, 12-15.

Yer. 6. " Insomuch that we desired Titus,
that as he had begun, so he would also finish
in you the same grace also."

What he had seen at Macedonia he de-
sired to see at Corinth. God, he knew, had
all hearts in his hand, and could and would
do again and elsewhere as he had done be-
fore. Nothing but the advancing power of

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKEBUTIOISr. 227

the gospel will satisfy a mind rightly dis-
posed toward God. The subjection of the
earth to Jesus is the object at which he aims.
But means must be used to gain the end.
On this occasion the ministry of Titus was
employed. It is a legitimate work to occupy
the attention and labors of a minister of
Christ, when he sets himself to produce and
cherish in the people of his charge an en-
larged liberality in the service of God. And
when any success is obtained, that should be
accounted an encouragement to persevere.
Where we have begun to do good we should
not rest till we finish the work.

Yer. 7. " Therefore, as ye abound in every-
thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowl-
edge, and in all diligence, and in your love
to us, see that ye abound in this grace
also."

The possession of some graces should never
be esteemed an apology for the want of
others. Rather should the deficiency be re-
garded as more inexcusable and inconsistent
for that reason. Particularly it is most care-
fully to be avoided, that while some other
graces are apparent that of liberality should
be wanting. If a man be very zealous and
stringent for holding the faith of the gospel
in purity, if he be eloquent in its advocacy

228 THE SCEIPTUEE KULE

and defense, if he be possessed of clear and
enlarged views, if lie be active in many ex-
ternal duties, if lie show a great interest in
the ministers of religion, and yet, after all,
be deficient in liberality, it is a sad specta-
cle. The world see it and understand it. It
brings the gospel into disrepute; it causes
the way of truth to be evil spoken of ; it is
the very circumstance which will be most
readily seized upon to disparage true re-
ligion. And, therefore, while we do not
fail to possess and cultivate other graces, we
should be specially careful to exercise that
of generosity in the cause of God.

Yer. 8. ."I speak not by commandment,
but by occasion of the forwardness of others,
and to prove the sincerity of your love."

After all, let it not be supposed the apos-
tle was dictatorial. "What he said was in
love and zeal, and he could not help it.
" Out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh." It was in his mind, and
it would have been as a fire in his bones if
he had not given vent to it. And there was
some excuse for him. Others urged him,
both by their example and their words.
He wished also to have the same regard for
the Corinthians as for others, such as the
Macedonians, and the same reasons for it.

OF RELIGIOUS coimirBTJTioi&r. 229

He longed to see the sincerity of their love
tested and proved. And when he did see
it, it would contribute alike to their credit
and his gratification.

Yer. 9. " For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for jour sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich."

Ah, yes! This motive would justify all
his earnestness, and might stimulate all their
love. Who could resist it, or how? They
were not ignorant of it. They knew it the-
oretically, and had in some measure felt it
experimentally. What was it ? They knew
that Jesus had been rich that he had dwelt
in the glory of the Father in the highest
heavens. They knew that he had become
poor so much so as not to have where to
.lay his head, and to suffer as a common
malefactor on the cross. They knew that to
all this he submitted on their account,
that they might be rich in the pardon of
sin, the gifts of righteousness, the blessed-
ness of true religion here and its everlasting
joys hereafter. And if they knew and con-
fessed all this, what might be expected of
them? What would they do in the cause
of this Divine Master? What would they
give for its advancement ?_ What would

230 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

they withhold ? Surely such an appeal was
irresistible.

Having made it, he explained to them at
length some arrangements he had made for
carrying forward the particular exercise of
liberality then required of them to maturity.
And having done so sufficiently for his pur-
pose, he proceeded to urge certain motives
upon them, which it is important to notice
as a specimen of apostolic dealing with a
question of contribution to the cause of God.

Chap, ix, 6. "But this I say, He which
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly;
and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully."

This is reasonable. As it is in nature so
also may we expect to find it in grace. He
who does little good may expect to receive
little. And this is applicable as well to time
as to eternity. God has so ordered it, that
in the very exercise of serving others we
"best serve ourselves. There is a providence,
too, which goes by the rule, "With what
measure ye mete it shall be measured to you
again." And it is the plain testimony of the
divine word that men shall be judged, if not
by, yet "according to, their works." It
must in the nature of the case be so, for just
as by exercise the capacity for happiness is

OF EELIGIOUS CONTKEBTraON. 231

enlarged, so shall the measure of final enjoy-
ment be.

Yer. 7. "Every man, according as he
purposeth in his heart, so let him give ; not
grudgingly, or of necessity : for God loveth
a .cheerful giver."

We should be at pains with the state of
our hearts. We should not be satisfied
merely with the doing of the generous act,
we should see that it is done in the right
spirit. And this may be obtained by indulg-
ing such considerations as the apostle had
suggested. Let them keep "looking unto
Jesus," and the fire will burn within them.
Besides, the doing of the acts of generosity
has a tendency to improve the heart. Christ
said, " If any man will do my will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God."
Right performances would clear the intellect
and promote knowledge. It would teach
experimentally. And so here also the right
occupation of the hands would extend its
influence to the heart, and deeds of charity
would promote a spirit of love.

Ver. 8. "And God is able to make all
grace abound toward you ; that ye, having
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to
every good work."

It was not merely the natural effect of

232 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

such a course as he had recommended they
were to consider. Tliere was, besides this,
the promised and direct influence of the di-
vine blessing. What could not God do with
their hearts? What would he not do?
What had he not done with many? He
was able and willing, and they had only to
ask -and receive a right hearty and generous
spirit from him. O how little this is remem-
bered ! How few remember to ask God for
liberality of soul, and how feebly ! Yet, be
it not forgotten, the want of it- is a sore
calamity, the possession of it is an unspeak-
able blessing, and from God only can it
come, and out of his fullness it may con-
stantly be received.

Yer. ll-M. " Which causeth through us
thanksgiving to God. They glorify God for
your liberal distribution, and long after you
for the exceeding grace of God in you."

They benefited not merely themselves and
their fellow-creatures, but they brought glory
to God in the highest. They acted on the
exhortation, " Let your light shine before
men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
And what effect ought such a thought to
have on a generous heart ? To be permitted
to honor God ! what an honor ! The very

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 233

act of liberality itself honors Mm. It hon-
ors his grace which prompted it, and thus
its effects increase his glory. They who.
participate in the kindness expressed are
benefited, not only in the improvement of
their outward circumstances, but in the state
of their minds toward God and toward man.
There is thus ho limit to the widening circle
of a generous liberality. As the pebble
dropped into the lake puts its waters into
motion, and circle rises after circle, till all is
stirred, and the whole borders around are
bathed by the waters ; so a Christian deed
may prove the means of an excitement
which shall grow and increase from person
to person, and from place to place, and from
age to age, until it shall reach eternity it-
self, and encircle the throne of God with a
halo of glory.

Yer. 15. "Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift."

~No wonder the apostle should thus close
liis exhortation. He calls the grace of liber-
ality an " unspeakable gift," for which he
gives God thanks. And so it is, and so he
ought to do. It is unspeakably good in its
nature and effects. It is lamentable that it
is so little contemplated under this aspect.
How many quote the apostle's words, and

234: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

yet do not apply them to his subject ! Their
modes of thinking are not like his; they
have not the elevated views of gracious af-
fections which he had. He calls charity an
unspeakable gift, and until the same views
prevail more generally the Christian Church
can never be expected to do its duty in the
devotion of its property to God. O that
men might so see this grace as to be im-
pelled to cry out, both on account of its own
lovely character, and the extent to which
they behold it exercised, " Thanks be unto
God for his unspeakable gift !"

Well, then, if these be the principles
which the Apostle Paul inculcated on the
subject of religious contribution, what say
we to the special question which they were
introduced to illustrate? What testimony
do Macedonia and Corinth bear to the pro-
portion in which Christians should contribute
to the cause of God? Would they say a
tenth? Did this suffice for them or the
apostle their teacher ? They were all famil-
iar with the laws and customs of ancient
times. Although none of these persons had
been Jews, and the members of both Mace-
donia and Corinth were either generally or
exclusively Gentiles, and even Lydia seems
to have been a proselyte, yet they would

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 235

have learned from the Jewish Scriptures,
and the Jews scattered among them, what
had been the habits and practices of the an-
cient people of God. They knew well what
God had required in the Jewish Scriptures.
And now, when they came to interpret these
passages by the principles which Paul had
inculcated upon them, at what conclusion
would they arrive? If we were told some
gave a tenth, others less, others nothing,
what opinion would we form or express of
those Churches ? We would be ashamed of
them. We would say they were utterly un-
worthy of their high privileges and honored
teachers. We could not help pronouncing
upon them the severest censure. Then let
us beware lest it be said to us, "Thou art the
man ;" " Physician, heal thyself ;" " Thou
that teachest a man should not steal, dost
thou steal ?" "Thou that sayest a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adul-
tery ?" " Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou
commit sacrilege?" Let us not expose our-
selves to a retort so fearful. We see what
are the great principles of the apostle, and
by what motives he urged them on the early
Church. Let us remember in speaking to
them, he being dead yet speaketh to us.
Let us adopt his principles and act upon

236 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

them ; let us become distinguished by liber-
ality in the cause of God as we have hither-
to been by the want of it. Let it no more
be said, "All seek their own, not the things
which are Jesus Christ's." Let his cause be
ours, and under a deep and growing sense
of what he did for us, let us uphold his
cause till "all nations shall be blessed in
him, and all nations shall call him blessed,"

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION". 237

CHAPTER YH.

THE FIRST DAT OF THE WEEK.

Upon the first day of the -week let every one of you lay by him in
store, as God hath prospered him. 1 Cor. xvi, 2.

"A WORD fitly spoken is like apples of gold
in pictures of silver." It is in the Holy Scrip-
tures these fitting words are found in perfec-
tion. Yery frequently the weightiest senti-
ments are conveyed there in the fewest and
simplest words possible. Great good is gained
by this peculiarity of style. The truth so
expressed is easily apprehended, easily re-
membered, and easily applied to practical
uses. It is like the concentrated essence of
the best food or medicine, in the composition
of which the greatest nutrition is secured by
the smallest quantity. Examples of all kinds
abound. Do the Scriptures describe God ?
It is thus : " God is a spirit ;" " God is light ;"
" God is love." What a fund of thought and
truth is here, which the most profound phi-
losopher cannot fathom, and which yet the
simplest child can in some degree apprehend
and remember . perfectly ! Or do they set
forth the way of a sinner's salvation by God?

238 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

It is thus: "God so loved the world, that
he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso-
ever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life ;" " This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin-
ners, of whom I am chief;" "By grace are
ye saved, through faith; and that not of
yourselves : it is the gift of God." In these
brief sayings the leading features of the way
of salvation are fully and clearly intimated.
It is the same with practical duties. Every
class will be found expressed in some com-
prehensive and short sentence. To confine
ourselves to the one before us, the duty of
religious contribution, the whole subject may
be said to be laid down in the few terms pre-
fixed to this chapter: "Upon the first day of
the week let every one of you lay by him
in store, as God hath prospered him." A
full development of the great principles of
the duty has already been considered in the
apostle's argument addressed to the Corinth-
ians. On every one of them we might have
dwelt at length, but their number and weight
permitted only a cursory glance at them.
Enough, however, was said to show their ex-
tent and depth. that the members of the
Christian Church would ponder them deeply,

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 239

drink into their spirit, feel their power, and
obey their requirements ! But we must now
turn from them, and claim attention to the
brief rule which has just been intimated, and
which will yet be found to hare the most
extensive application.

1. The time of religious contribution is
marked " the first day of the week " the
Christian Sabbath. There is much signifi-
cance in the fact that a time is thus divinely
fixed. It assumes that the duty as a matter
of obligation must be discharged at some
time, and that Jt is well to have an appoint-
ed time for it, lest it should by any possibil-
ity, through neglect, be omitted altogether.
It is too often found that what we think may
be done at any time is never done. Nor is
it merely that the time is fixed; the fre-
quency of its recurrence is important to be
observed. It arrives weekly. The duty is
to be habitually performed. It is not a
mere momentary excitement, to be spent in
a strong impulse, from which we may fall
back into apathy or neglect. It is a duty to
be kept constantly before our attention, that
as its obligations never cease, so neither shall
our exertions. The tone of the prescribed
rule implies that there is the utmost concern
and consideration that the duty may be done

24:0 THE SOKIPTURE EULE

perseveringly and effectually. Above all, it
should be carefully noted under what power- .
f ul impressions and motives tlie apostle would
have our minds when we would thus habitu-
ally devote our property to God. " On the
first day of the Week !" What associations
are connected with that day ! It. reminds us
of Jesus, it is sacred to his memory, it is the
Lord's day, it brings us into fellowship with
him, and it irresistibly urges upon.us, ""What-
soever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord
and not unto men." It reminds us especially
of his triumph. We may say, "This is the
day the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and
be glad in it." " I will triumph in the work
of thy hands." On this day our Divine Re-
deemer rose from the grave, " spoiling prin-
cipalities and powers, and making a show of
them openly." We have, therefore, vividly
presented to us all the blessings which we
enioy by means of the death and resurrec-
tion of the Son of G-od. An appeal is made
to the heart by their value and number. As
we contemplate what he has done for us, we
are asked, what we are ready to do for him?
By the Sabbath we are further reminded of
the outpouring of the Spirit of Christ. As
on this day he arose and ascended, so" also .
on it lie sent the Holy Ghost. And the effu-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 24:1

sion of the day of Pentecost was only an em-
blem and earnest of what might be expected
in future years. Long after, John could say
in the lonely isle of Patmos, "I was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day." So should every
believer have the same experience. He
needs the weekly return of the holy day, and
it is expressly provided for him. His prayer
should be, " Yisit me with thy salvation ;"
and nothing less than the enjoyment of its
answer should satisfy him. What, then, is
to be its effect in the enlightenment and en-
largement of his mind, discovering to him
the duty of yielding himself and all he has
to God, and engaging him heartily and earn-
estly to make the surrender? Biit it is in
the ordinances of grace the Spirit is to be
expected on that day, and hence arises an-
other powerful influence under which the
believer is to be prompted to act. These are
wondrously adapted to both his mental and
bodily constitution the singing of God's
praise, pouring out the heart in prayer, the
word read and preached, the fellowship of
the body and blood of Jesus, and the pro-
nouncing of benediction in his name. How
calculated are these services powerfully to
impress and excite the soul to duty ! They

may well be anticipated, as was done by Da-

16

2i2 THE SCRIPTUKE KULE

vid, saying, " I shall be anointed with fresh
oil." Fresh supplies of the grace of the
Spirit are needed and expected in. the ordi-
nances of God's house. And, to sum up all,
the rest of the Sabbath is the emblem of
heaven itself. Heaven is only an unbroken
Sabbath -unbroken by worldly cares or sins,
unbroken by any limitation of times or sea-
sons. We are reminded how short our time
on earth is, and how long the eternity on
which we are about to enter. In the same
manner we learn the necessity of redeeming
the time now, and doing something that will
tell upon eternity for the well-being of our-
selves and others. This is the time which
the apostle has fixed for religious contribu-
tion. And is it not manifest he did so with
ffood reason? He has chosen the time when

O

the mind is under the best and most power-
ful influences, the period at which the duty
bids fairest to be best discharged, when if
, ever it shall not be neglected, and when
every temptation to neglect is most likely to
be resisted and overcome.

Attention is specially requested to this
view of the subject. In almost no instance
is the apostolic rule, in this matter, obeyed.
In a large proportion of the Churches of
these lands no religions contribution is made

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKrBTJTKXN. 243

on the first day of the week. In many, a
half-penny or penny may statedly "be given.
But as to meeting the spirit or the letter of
the apostolic rule, where shall we find it?
Personal enjoyment and profit seem to be
the grand absorbing objects of attendance
upon public worship. We go to receive
good, and forget the apostle has also taught
us we should no less go to do good. " To do
good and to communicate forget not: for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased."
It is to be feared we are in no readiness to
act upon this apostolic . rule. The Church
that would earnestly call upon its members
to do so would be apt to endanger its peace
or outward prosperity. Its habitual calls to
generosity would be felt to be irksome, and.
there would be rebellion against them. Let
us alone, and let us have the undisturbed
enjoyment of the word and ordinance, would,
it ia feared, be the saying of many. Yet
this is a great mistake. !N"ever do we find
a Scripture rule either unwise or unsuited to
our highest benefit. It is in doing good we
obtain good. If the Churches of Christ
would only consent to act on the apostolic
rule, they would speedily experience the ad-
vantages in their own edification. Only sup-
pose that their members did, as the apostle

244: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

recommends, exercise frugality and care
throughout the week, that they might be
prepared to present their offerings to the
Lord and his cause on every first day of the
week, and what rich enjoyment would they
soon experience in their own souls 1 God
would meet them, and shower his blessings
upon them. They would soon have the as-
pect of a garden which the Lord himself had
watered. And they would be constrained
often to cry out, " God is in this place ; this
is none other than the house of God, and
this is the 1 gate of heaven." There is one
practice in particular to which we cannot
but advert for a moment, in connection with
this view of the subject. It is the custom of
most Churches to sustain their Christian ef-
forts by occasional addresses and collections
on days specially appointed for the purpose.
For these all preparation is made. Notices
are previously given of the intended appeal,
and the object of it. Information is circu-
lated to arrest attention, and stimulate zeal.
When the set-day arrives, the preacher puts
forth his utmost power to rouse the assem-
bled Church to a sense and performance of
its duty. And on the success of this attempt
the cause in question is dependent for a year
to come. It is cause of thankfulness that

OF BELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 245

even this much is gained. Not long ago
nothing of the kind existed. Churches met
and partedj and thought not of any duty
they were called on to discharge for the
benefit of others. It is hoped there will be
a growing spirit of earnest zeal, and that
nothing shall be left undone which wise and
prudent measures can obtain for the uphold-
ing of the cause of Christ on earth. As
matters are, ministers must thus statedly
preach, they must go forth from time to
time, and place to place ; they must circu-
late information, and try to call forth zeal ;
they must devise expedients, and use all their
sanctified ingenuity to raise the funds that
are required for carrying the truth of Christ
and its messengers through the whole earth.
All this, it is admitted, must, in the pres-
ent state of the Church, be done. None,
we trust, will misunderstand our remarks,
nor turn them into an excuse for the neglect
of present duty. After all, however, may
we not say, " I show unto you a more excel-
lent way ?" And what is it ? many will say.
They feel that the present plan is inefficient,
and does not reach the necessities of the case.
Our most important plans for the evangeli-
zation of the world are languishing for the
want of support. Can you point out a way

24:6 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

to fill the exhausted treasury? Tes, and a
simple one too a way simpler and easier far
than that which is at present pursued, and
as much more efficient as it is easier and
simpler. It is just to return to the apostolic
counsel, "On. the first day of the week"
give your substance to the cause of -God. ^ It.
is obvious. he means, not as we seem to have
understood- it, a special day selected now
and again, but every "first day of the
week." Wherever the Church of Christ
assembles on that day, let its members give
what their painstaking has enabled them to
provide for the cause of God. Observe how
an operation so simple would tell advanta-
geously on the finances of the Church. It
would set us free from the disaster which a
day of stormy rain and tempest must inflict
upon the cause which had its advocacy con-
fined to that special season. "With what
dismay have the managers of many a noble
cause looked out on such a day, as they felt
the responsibility that rested upon them to
meet the necessities of those who bore its
toils and conducted its labors. It has been
stated that the character of the appointed
day determined in some instances whether
the effort made over the Churches of a cer-
tain district would raise the cause to a posi-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 24:7

tion of safety and prosperity for the coming
year, or leave it to struggle as best it might
with the difficulties of poverty until Provi-
dence might be pleased to favor it, in some
future day, with a season of calm and sun-
shine. Is it a wise or proper arrangement
.that leaves an important cause dependent
upon such a circumstance? The apostolic
rule would remove the difficulty, and it
would do more and better still. It would
bring the claims of God's cause before all
the members of the Church. On those spe-
cial occasions which we have fixed many
may not be present. Either they must have
zeal to remedy the loss of their presence by
a voluntary donation of their generosity, or
their help must be lost until another distant
opportunity shall be granted. And then the
same disappointment may arise again. The
stated and habitual offering at once remedies
this evil. At the same time its amount of
contribution would be. a mighty increase on
the present forced collection. A penny
every week would seem a trifle to many
who would scruple to present the shillings
to which it would rise at the termination of
the year. A shilling would be an easy
weekly offering to some who would be
alarmed by the idea of laying fifty-two to-

24:8 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

gether on the plate of solicitation after the
financial year had come to a close. Even
the more extended offering of the pound, or
more, would not seem extravagant to some
who would feel a strong temptation to cur-
tail the donation of not a few when they
were to be presented in a single offering..
The finance of the Scriptures will be found
as wise and efficient as it is simple. It is
the best by far to meet the temptations to
which human nature, in the frailty of its
best estate, is liable, and by the easiest
means to secure the best results. And is it
nothing to substitute the calm doings of
principle for the stimulus of occasional ex-
citement? "We should look well to our mo-
tives. God searcheth the hearts and trieth
the reins of the children of men. Pride
and vain-glory are besetting sins of men.
They are in all circumstances evil, chiefly so
when allowed to influence in the cause of
God. "We should be careful not only to do
what is right in itself, but to do it in the
right spirit and manner. And that the
change of measures suggested would be cal-
culated to have a favorable influence in this
respect who can doubt? It may be added
that the very habit of looking to our affairs
habitually throughout the week, that we

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 249

may have to give to the cause of God on
the approaching Sabbath, and that -we may
know what we ought to give consistently
with other, claims, would greatly minister to
a proper frame of mind. It would be a
most valuable and habitual discipline of' the
soul. It would bring God into the .most
ordinary concerns of life, and elevate the
lowest engagements to the dignity of the
highest principles. Let it not be said, such
a habit would lay upon us a yoke of intol-
erable bondage. Recollect it is God who
has laid it on. The rule we are recommend-
ing is divine. It is also both wise and mer-
cifully adapted to its purposes, and not less
so to the happiness and prosperity of him
who acts upon it. Alas that the Churches
of Christ should be so little in a condition to
adopt such a rule ! "We are far from vio-
lently forcing it on any. We fear great
changes must come before it will be gener-
ally adopted. But one day, no doubt, it
will be the rule and the practice of the
Lord's people. Let those who can, begin to
act upon it now. Let those who cannot
overcome the difficulties in their way, pray
and wait till God shall make the path plain
before them. But in this as in all things let
us feel assured it is well to say " O that my

250 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have
respect unto all thy commandments."

2. Not merely, however, does the apostolic
rule determine the time of contributing, it
fixes attention also upon those whose duty it
is to contribute " Every one of you." Who
are meant? In some sense it may no. doubt
be said all men are comprehended in the
description. Whoever they are for whom
the blessings of the gospel are intended, they
certainly should acknowledge the obligation
here laid upon them. We proceed on the
general ground, which none will dispute,
that the gospel is to be preached to all men,
and that all are invited to participate in its
benefits. None will be so infatuated as to
exclude themselves from the number of
those who are invited and entreated to be-
lieve on Jesus Christ, and obtain eternal life
in him. Then must all such own that they
are included in the " every one " of the rule.
For if the gospel is preached to them, and
they may enjoy its benefits, surely it be-
comes their duty to give of their substance
that these same privileges may be extended
to others. Let it not be said, there can be
no obligation on any to extend the gospel
until they themselves ~ become recipients of

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 251

the gospel and its salvation. This involves
a most fatal principle in morals. A man's
unfitness for a duty, or his indisposedness for
it, does not release him from the obligation
of it. So, because a man does not receive
the gospel, it does not follow that it is not his
duty to receive it. He is bound to receive
it, and 'to discharge every duty which it re-
quires. Until he does..so, he is living in sin,
and nothing can free him from the demand
which his great Creator has laid upon him.
These remarks apply directly to the special
duty which we are enforcing. It is the duty
of " every one " to receive the gospel him-
self, and to send it to others, and to do what-
ever he can to advance this object. We
have no hesitation in saying this is the duty
of a deist, or even of an atheist, if such is
to be found. "Unto you, O men, I call, and
my voice is to the sons of men," this is the
address of Christ in his word. And whether
men will hear, or whether they will forbear,
here are their privileges, and duties, and re-
sponsibilities. Literally and universally,
therefore, it is the duty of " every one " to
consider and contrive that he may have to
give of his substance " on the first day of
the week." Nor let it be overlooked, that
whoever fails in this duty is so far hardening

252 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

his own heart and shutting it up more and
more against the reception of Christ and his
truth into it. It is with this sin as with
every sin. All sin is not only evil in itself,
but is exerting an influence for greater evil
over every mind that is subjected to it.
And this is a fearful consideration. The un-
godly are " treasuring up wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God." On this principle we
deem it an object worthy of all zeal and
effort to hinder an ungodly man from con-
tracting more sin. Even though he become
not a subject of God's converting grace, it is
of high moment to keep him back from any
sin, or to engage him in the performance of
any duty. Often the very performance of a
duty is the beginning of a state of mind that
leads to the most gracious and blessed results.
One thing is clear, it was a marked fea-
ture in our Lord's ministry to engage " every
one" in well-doing. His sermon on the
mount is a noble illustration of it. " Then
came publicans also to be baptized, and said
unto him> Master, what shall we do ? And
he said unto them, Exact no more than that
which is appointed you. And the soldiers
likewise demanded of him, saying, And what
shall we do? And he said unto them, Do

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 253

violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely,
and be content with your wages." Pro-
ceeding on this high authority, we call upon
" every one " to give unto the Lord. O
that we could engage even an ungodly and
careless community in this duty ! It would
soon produce a wondrous change on their
spirit, and habits, and practices. Caring for
others, they would begin to care for them-
selves. This would bring them to God, and,
sensible of their own necessities, they would
learn to cry mightily to him, that they might
be healed of their sins. God would bless
them, too. ]S~ot only in the nature and ne-
cessity of their new engagements would
there arise a cessation from much that was
evil, and an engagement in that which was
in itself good, but the Lord would look fa-
vorably upon them ; not, certainly, because
they thus entered upon a course of reforma-
tion, yet in the way of entering on such a
course. We are urgent in the assertion of
these principles, because we think they have
been sadly perverted, and a secret feeling
seems to have spread too generally in the
minds of men that because they do not pro-
fess religion, its duties cannot be expected
nor are they required of them. It is a fear-
ful delusion, by which Satan has slain his

THE SCRIPTURE RULE

thousands and tens of thousands. "We have
done what we could to detect and expose his
design, and we now proceed to contemplate
the phrase before us in its more restricted
acceptation. This was no doubt in the apos-
tle's mind when he said, " Every one of you"
He spoke to the members of that Church
which he had described as "sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints." " Te are
washed, ye are justified, ye are sanctified, in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God." They were called upon,
therefore, by a regard to their own consist-
ency and profession, to be liberal in the cause
of God. They had declared by their conduct
that they acquiesced in the sentiment of
Christ, ""What is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul ?" They must therefore do what in .them
lay to show their value for the souls of men,
and make every sacrifice to save them.
Even although the special duty required of
them was to contribute to the temporal relief
of the saints at Jerusalem, yet there was
much that was spiritual in the duty. Their
temporal state powerfully affected their men-
tal exercises. It was as the saints of God,
having claims upon them as part of the Chris-

OP RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 255

tian brotherhood, they were required to pro-
vide for them. And they were under the
necessity of doing it out of regard to Jesus
Christ, their Master, and that of the objects
of their sympathy too regard to his exam-
ple, authority, and the solemn anticipations
of the final judgment which he had so mi-
nutely described in his ministry on the earth,
and in which description he gave so much
prominence to what was done for his disci-
ples in his name : " Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me." The
duty, therefore, was to all intents and pur-
poses one highly spiritual in its character, as
much so as if its direct object had been the
saving of the souls of them for whom they
were concerned. Then, again, they had by
their conduct acknowledged the fullness and
sufficiency of Christ for the salvation of their
own souls. They had committed themselves
into his hands, and this was the highest tes-
timon}'- they could give to others how highly
they prized him. If they were sincere
herein, what would they do to lead others
to do as they had done themselves ? How
paltry would any earthly sacrifice seem in
comparison with the high and holy object
which they sought to gain ! Not only had

256 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

they made their confession by the act of em-
bracing the Saviour for themselves in faith,
but they were accustomed to avow that faith
in the most public and emphatic manner.
Their Sabbath assemblies and their holy com-
munion in bread and wine at the table of the
Lord were known and read of all men. In all
consistency, then, what service might be de-
manded at their hands ? Surely " every one "
of them would own and act on his obligation
to give to the utmost for the temporal, spir-
itual, and eternal well-being of others. These
remarks are as applicable to the members
of the Christian Church now as they ever
were to those whom the apostle immediately
addressed. Christians make the same pro-
fessions now as ever were made in apostolic
times. It is the profession of a " common
salvation." They have their assemblies now,
as of old the same solemnities the same
table of the Lord. The same obligations,
therefore, rest upon them. On " every one " '
who professes Christ is laid the obligation to
do what he can for the spread of his truth.
And is there any " one " who could not do
something ? Is there " one " who could not
give something ? God knoweth, and it were
presumption in us to speak peremptorily;
but if there be "one" who could not give

OF BELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 257

something for Jesus, who gave himself for
him, his circumstances must be very pecu-
liar. Yet how many there are who act as
if such were their case ! They give nothing.
It is idle to inquire into the various Reasons
which would be alleged for the neglect, but
the fact. cannot be questioned. Many, very
many, do not give at all. The majority do
not give. The smallness of contribution in
the earth to the cause of Christ is a proof
that few give. It may be presumed many
have not been told of their obligation to do
so. To others it has not occurred. It is a
prevailing idea with many that all they
could give is so little, it would be neither
worth their offering nor the Church accept-
ing. This is a sore evil. As well might the
drops not fall because they are not each a
whole shower of rain. As well might the
stream let from the mountain stay its course,
because it is not the broad river on which go
the gallant ships. This is a matter of deep
concern to the interests of religion. Personal
responsibility is the great duty needed to be
known and felt. If the members of the
Church were brought to understand it, all
would be well. If each would do what he
could, there would be enough. How wise
is the Spirit of God ! How apparent is that

17

258 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

wisdom in the rule of contribution which we
have been considering! If it were obeyed,
and " every, one " would give, it would
change the whole aspect of the Church and
the world. The discovery of the law of grav-
ity did not produce a greater change in the
philosophy of the world than the obedience
of this simple rule would produce in the
moral condition of the world. The discovery
of steam, with all its wondrous powers and ex-
traordinary effects and unexpected changes,
would not match the results of this one sim-
ple principle, were it only carried out into
the conduct of professing Christians. We
submit it to them, and call on " every one"
to say whether he will accept it for his rule,
or plainly and confessedly reject it from his
creed. Only let " every one " know that who-
soever rejects it, rejects the apostle and Him
also who sent him the Lord Jesus.

3. Lengthened, however, as our remarks
have been on this apostolic rule, we have
not yet done. It is, as we have said again
and again, remarkable for its simplicity, and
it should have required nothing to be said
in either the illustration or enforcement of it.
But its neglect, its almost entire oversight,
has rendered it necessary that all should be
said which has been now advanced and

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 259

more too. The longer a noble building has
lain in ruins the more it is covered over with
accumulated matter, and it needs the greater
labor to remove the rubbish, and more ex-
cavation to bring the buried columns to the
light of day, and replace them on their an-
cient foundations, until the once perfect
building is restored again to its former sym-
metry, and beauty, and strength. So with
this principle on which we have been dwell-
ing. It appears to have been concealed
from the view of the Church. Amid the
dilapidations of the truth and of the Church
upon the earth, the rubbish of long-estab-
lished usages, and mistaken principles, and
erroneous views, has covered it over so as to
have put it out of sight. Much labor, there-
fore, is necessary to bring it out again, and
let men see it in its beautiful proportion and
mighty strength. "We have already pre-
sented some portions of it to their notice and
admiration ; and now we proceed to exhibit
one other feature, which will complete the
description. It is the measure or proportion
in which "every one" is required to give
even "as the Lord hath prospered him."

At first sight the meaning would seem 'to
be sufficiently clear. Indeed, it would ap-
pear as if it were hardly possible to mistake

260 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

it, that as God gives us means from week
to week, so we should give in the same pro-
portion to his cause. But there are none so
blind as those who will not see. Where no
obscurity exists, there are those who take
pleasure in creating it. The more simple
anything is, they make it the more difficult
to understand. And even on this unmis-
takable rule questions are asked which no
casuist is able to answer, and prolixities are
woven out of it which it is impossible to un-
ravel. "What is meant, says one, by giving
as the Lord hath prospered ? Does it mean
our annual income, or our whole estate ?
Supposing the tenth to be the proportion of
giving, am I called on to give that measure
of all I have, or of what God has given me
within the year ? The principle of explana-
tion is manifestly contained in the rule itself.
It is a proportion to be given according to
the increase of the time mentioned, and in
the present instance it is a week. This may
be extended to other periods of time, a
month or a year. Thus the text itself fixes
its meaning to refer to income, and not to
the amount of property possessed. It need
not be said this property will affect the in-
come, but it is by the increase of what it
yields that the proportion to be given shall

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 261

be measured. In this arrangement the wis-
dom of the Scriptures is great. They promise
to the believer worldly prosperity among
other blessings. "Godliness is profitable
unto all things, having promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come."
Wealth is an unspeakable blessing in the
hands of the godly. Constituted as the
world is, we do not see how the cause of
God is to be carried forward without the
help of the rich. True, the offerings of the
poor are to be highly prized. Perhaps, too,
they will ever be, as they have ever been,
the chief source of support to the Church of
Christ. Still there are noble examples of
great good effected by princely offerings
from the rich. Great and gracious promises,
too, are held out to this effect in the Scrip-
tures. We rejoice, therefore, when God in
his providence is pleased to prosper his peo-
ple. It is good to see them growing in
wealth and influence. The ; world shall be
the better for it all. Let it not, therefore,
be supposed we frown upon the wealthy, or
make little of their wealth. On the con-
trary, we praise God on their account ; and
we admire the rule which is now before us,
because, while it provides for the necessities
of the Church, it does not interfere even

262 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

with their worldly prosperity. Understand-
ing it thus, then, its directions are plain, and
we hold them to be universally applicable.
Fixing attention, for the sake of illustra-
tion, on what we have shown to be the lowest
proportion of giving ever sanctioned by the
Scriptures, a tenth, observe the practical
application. And we specify it, not because
any can fail to apply the rule to themselves,
but because, even where duty is clear, we
need " line upon line and precept upon pre-
cept." The income of one is fifty dollars in
the year ; then the claim of God is five dol-
lars : that of another is double, and the claim
upon him is double. A third has received
five hundred dollars, and fifty dollars is his
proportion. If it be a thousand dollars, a
hundred can readily be spared. If it be
many thousands, there maybe as many hun-
dreds. Plain and specific, however, as we
desire to be, there are those who cannot un-
derstand the matter. How, they ask, can a
man who has a large family, and only five
hundred dollars a year to provide for all
their wants, devote a tenth of that to the
cause of God ? Then, I ask, is a man having
only the half of it, or less, to give none at all?
Nay, I ask, How are many families support- -
ed on the fourth of it? And on less by far?

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 263

But, you say, we have a station to support
which they have not. Will you plead that
argument with God ? The conscience that
could do so must be seared as with a hot
iron. If God has placed you in those cir-
cumstances, it is an intimation of his will that
he would have you to live according to them.
He has not relaxed his law that you might
live after certain conventional rules which
men have made, but which he has never
sanctioned. After all, are you not satisfied
with our explanations? Then we are soriy
for it, but cannot help it. Only you must
allow us to ask, Where lies the fault ? In us,
or in you ? To bring this question to a test,
let us entreat that you will give us your in-
terpretation of the apostolic rule. You do
not approve of ours ; what, then, is your
own? JThere are those who can reject all
that others propose, but have no proposal of
their own to make. Are you of that num-
ber? There is a mighty power in some to
pull down, but they will never give a hand
to help to build up. We must leave you, if
you be such, to Him who shall judge both
you and us. And we turn away to indulge
the sad reflections which are forced upon us
while, we look at the rule which the apostle
has prescribed, and compare it with the con-

264: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

duct which many evince. How few, alas !
there are who are giving even according to
the lowest proportion of a tenth ! But, not
to dwell upon this, we mourn especially how
little the claim is considered that each shall
give "as the Lord hath prospered him."
Last year the income was increased, but
the subscription is the same. The income
of one is double that of another, but their
donations to the cause of God are equal.
In some instances the income has been
growing, and the proportion of contribution
has been 'decreasing. Tears have been ac-
cumulating, and wealth has kept pace with
them ; but the heart has become more and
more contracted, and the duty of giving less
and less felt. It is a fearful proof of the de-
pravity of human nature to find that the be-
setting sin of old age is covetousness. - Just
the opposite of what might have been ex-
pected is found to be the reality. As the
world becomes less capable of affording en-
joyment, it is held with greater tenacity.
When men are about to leave it they cling
closer to it. Be' watchful. Nothing grows
faster, or is harder to be dislodged from the
heart, than worldliness. There may be some
who feel difficulties, however, which are pe-
culiar to their circumstances in carrying the

OF 'RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTION. 265

apostolic rule into effect. The apostle seems
to write to those who are in circumstances
to know what their weekly lodgment for the
cause of God should be. Some such there
are still it may be many. But there are
some with whom it is not so. They are un-
able to tell what a week, or a month, or even
a year, may enable them to make a just pro-
portion. It is to be regretted that the state
of commerce does in some instances create
such difficulties. When the servant of the
Lord finds himself in them, he must meet
them as best he can. Stretching the time
over more years than one, he must strike the
proportion accordingly. He knows how to
do so in other transactions, and his ingenuity
will not fail him here. We may safely leave
him to its exercise. Only let him not for-
get, the rule we have been expounding does
not change with the changes of this earth's
occupations. It is like Him who gave it,
eternal and immutable. Abraham acted on
it in his day, so did Jacob. Moses enforced
it by many sanctions, and Jesus Christ in his
own ministry, and by that of his apostles,
inculcated it again and again. However,
therefore, it is to be obeyed conformity to
it is essential. If any find fault with our ex-
position of it, in understanding it of income,

266 THE SCKIPTDKE BULK

let them extend it according to their convic-
tions of duty. If they think it embraces all
property, let them so act upon it. "We shall
not complain of them. Perhaps, after all,
they may reap their reward in so doing. It
is a blessed thing to get above the earthliness
of the present world. We are in great dan-
ger of being swayed by its vain calculations.
Truly we need to cry, " Lord, open thou
mine eyes to behold wondrous things out of
thy law." In no department is this more
necessary than in those practical questions
that are apt to come into contact with our
selfishness and worldly prejudices. Blessed
be God, however, the rule in this instance is
plain. The wayfaring man, though a fool,
need not err respecting it. He who runs may
read. And we end with its repetition as we
began, leaving it on the conscience of every
man to act according to his view of what it
requires. " On the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as God
hath prospered him." JSToble principle this !
And noble exercise where it is obeyed ! The
Christian keeping it ever in his eye! looking
at his dayly accounts in the light of it ! re-
garding God as a claimant in all his transac-
tions ! and while just in his dealings with all
men, resolved he will not "rob God."

OF EELiaiOUS CONTRIBUTION. 267

CHAPTER Yin.

EXAMPLES.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our
learning. Rom. XT, 4

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."
As is our faith, so will be our conduct.
Hence we infer, on the other hand, that as a
man's life is, so we may judge of his senti-
ments. " B y their fruits ye shall know them."
Proceeding on this principle we may gain
further information respecting the views
taught in the Scriptures on the subject of
religious contribution. "We have only to
inquire what was the conduct of those who
believed them in order to ascertain what
were their sentiments. Their actions are a
comment on their principles. We have en-
deavored to make manifest that the lowest
proportion of income ever given by the
people of God, and sanctioned by his au-
thority, is a tenth ; and now, in confirmation
and illustration of that view, we appeal to
this practice. Let this be contemplated in
all relations, public and private, and under
all dispensations, Mosaic and Christian, and

268 THE 6CRIPTTJRE RULE

the conclusion will be the same. It is worthy
of observation, that the Spirit of God has
seen good to record the doings of the Lord's
people in this respect ; and out of many ex-
amples we shall select a few that may be
looked upon as a specimen of the rest, and
very illustrative of their guiding principles.
The first which we shall notice relates to the

ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE.

The record of this event is contained in
Exodus xxxv, xxxvi. It has seemed good to
the Holy Ghost to give us very minute de-
tails, and particularly to describe how means
were obtained for the completion of such an
undertaking. We shall endeavor to sketch
the leading features of the interesting and
instructive proceeding. The first thing that
arrests attention is the proposal of Moses:
"Moses gathered all the congregation of the
children of Israel together, and said unto
them, These are the words which the Lord
hath commanded, that ye should do them ;
take ye from among you an offering unto the"
Lord." He deals reasonably and candidly
with them. He assumes no authority over
them, but bears to them a message from the
Lord. He explains to them the will of the
Lord clearly before he proceeds to ask their

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 269

concurrence and cooperation. Let this be
noticed at the outset. We must never at-
tempt to carry our measures for the cause of
God by mere authority. We must be ready
and careful to give a reason for our propos-
als. We must take care that both we and
our measures are understood, and not till
then are we in a condition to propose their
adoption. This done, Moses at once gave
them to understand the work was to be en-
tirely voluntary : " Whosoever is of a will-
ing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the
Lord." There was to be no constraint. If
any chose to avoid the work, they were at
liberty to do so ; if any took part in it, it
must be heartily. Even though they helped
by their contribution, if this were not done
with sincerity and cheerfulness, the service
would not be accepted by Him who looketh
not so much on the outward appearance as
upon the heart. Then as to what each
should bring to the work, the proposal of
Moses was that every one should give ac-
cording to what he possessed : " Gold, silver,
brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats'
hair, rams' skins, badgers' skins, shittim
wood, oils, spices, and onyx stones." Any-
thing offered in the right spirit would be ac-
ceptable. Every one could give something,

270 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

although, no one could give everything.
None would be excluded from having some
part in the delightful service; God would
deprive no one of such an opportunity. His
providence has put something in the hands
of every one, which may be employed for
him. Such were the proposals of Moses, and
now we are to look at their reception by the
people. This was not immediate. They
took time for consideration: "All the con-
gregation of the children of Israel departed,
from the presence of Moses." How did they
employ themselves? "We follow them to
their tents. Here is a company engaged in
earnest conversation by the way on what
they had heard, and every one gives his
opinion freely, all approving the plan. There
is a family group in affectionate fellowship,
consulting what they can do to help the
work forward. And yonder is an aged patri-
arch, alone, in prayer to God, wrestling with
him, that he may give counsel to Israel in so
great a work, and engage the hearts of all in
it. All this augurs well. Soon, therefore,
the people come -to a decision, and return to
Moses : " They came, every one whose heart
stirred him up, and every one whose spirit
made him willing, and they brought the
Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 271

of the congregation." It is most engaging
to notice who came, and what they brought,
and how they acted. "Who? "Men and
women," both the sexes alike. All are con-
cerned in the work of the Lord, and none
should abstain from it. There is work for
man and work for woman. Both are under
deep obligations, and both should acknowl-
edge them. The one can do what the other
cannot together the agency is complete.
What did they bring ? The women brought
" bracelets and earrings, and rings and tab-
lets, all jewels of gold." These would be
better employed in aiding the work of the
Lord than in adorning their persons. The
men brought " blue and purple, and skins
and wood," whatever any one possessed.
How did they act ? " The women did spin
with their hands, and brought that which
they had spun." " The rulers brought onyx
stones, and spice, and oil." "The children
of Israel brought a willing offering unto the
Lord, every man and woman, whose heart
made them willing to bring, for all manner
of work which the Lord had commanded to
be made, by the hand of Moses." ~No sooner
did this heartiness in the Lord's service ap-
pear than the favor of Jehovah was mani-
fested. He raised up fitting agents to do

272 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE

the work. " Moses said, See, the Lord hath
called by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri,
and he hath filled him with the Spirit -of
God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in
all knowledge, and in all manner of work-
manship." " And he hath put in his heart
that he may teach, both he and Aholiab :
them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to
work all manner of work, of the engraver,
and of the cunning workman, and of the
embroiderer, in blue and in purple, in scarlet
and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even
of them that do any work, and of those that
devise cunning work." Let us address our-
selves to God's work in good earnest, and he
will further our endeavors. " Acknowledge
God in all thy ways, and he will direct thy
steps." Nor was this a momentary excite-
ment. The work went on, and the interest
of the people in it continued. "They
brought free offerings every morning."
Having begun a good work we must perse-
vere. So they did, and a glorious issue they
obtained. " The wise men that wrought all
the work came unto Moses and said, The
people bring much more than enough. And
Moses gave commandment, and they caused
it to be proclaimed throughout the camp,
saying, Let neither man nor woman make

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTION. 273

any more work for the offering of the sanc-
tuary. So the people were restrained from
bringing." It should not be overlooked in
what circumstances this. noble outburst of
sanctified generosity took place. It was in
the wilderness. The people were assembled
there amid its wild and rugged scenery.
They were dependent every day on the
providence of God to supply their returning
wants. They had no resources either from
agriculture or commerce. No people could
be under stronger temptations to keep what
they had against an evil day. Yet their
zeal for God overcame all their fears. Their
love for his service opened their hearts, and
made them willing to give whatever they
possessed. And a blessed work it proved to
be. That Tabernacle became the dwelling-
place of Jehovah throughout many genera-
tions. There he mBt his people and com-
muned with them. It was like the building
of a mighty reservoir of pure water, whence
streams of blessing flowed after them while
they sojourned in the desert, and long also
after they entered into the promised land.
The transactions of that glorious day, we
may be assured, were never forgotten in
Israel. An impetus was then given to the
cause of God that did not spend its force for

18 :

274: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

many generations. They are left on record
to teacli us to act in the same manner. We,
as they, are invited to bear our part in the
work of the Lord. We should, like them,
entertain the proposal seriously and prayer-
fully. We ought, after their example, to
acquiesce in it. We should all do so, men
and women. Every one should do what he
can, and give what he can. God will bless
us as we do so. He will provide agents to
carry forward the holy enterprise on which
we set our hearts ; he will bring it to a suc-
cessful issue. We shall find that we have
been raising a memorial the most honorable
to ourselves and beneficial to men : it will
endure when we have moldered into dust.
In it we shall find we were blessed, and,
after us, many shall find it to be a blessing.
Is not such a work worthy of a generous
offering? What shall 'it be?. A tenth of
our income ? Read the doings of Israel and
determine. They knew the law; but did
they limit themselves to it on this occasion?
Their conduct is the best exemplification of
their principles. What think we of any
Israelite who might be detected in that day
keeping back from the work of the Lord ?
How we despise him ! An Achan in the
camp, he could only bring a curse on Israel.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 275

Then let us be both admonished and encour-
aged liberally to give to the work of the
Lord until his Tabernacle is built in the wil-
derness of the world, where he shall dwell,
in manifest tokens of his presence, until his
people are all brought up into the land of
rest and promise.

THE TEMPLE.

The Tabernacle had now stood for a period
of about five hundred years. It was the
will of God that it should at length give
place to a more permanent structure. The
circumstances in which the Temple that suc-
ceeded it was erected are fully detailed.
And' it is worthy of note that here again, as
in the case of the Tabernacle, we are pre-
sented with a noble exhibition of generosity
in the cause of God. This cannot be acci-
dental. It is the will of God, we should
know, that under every economy and in
every change of administration liberality in
his cause marked his people. Israel at the
building of the Temple presents a happy re-
semblance of the same Israel at the erection
of the Tabernacle, and we shall now con-
template the prominent features of their
conduct as narrated in the twenty-eighth
and twenty-ninth chapters of 1 Chronicles.

THE SCKIPTUKE 22ULE

As might be expected, there is much in
common with what happened at the build-
ing of the Tabernacle ; but we shall endeavor
to bring out mainly what is new in this ex-
ample of generosity.

The objects were in some respects similar,
but in others different. One great end was
to be served by both, the maintenance of
the worship of God among his people, a
testimony to himself and his truth. But the
Tabernacle was a frail and movable erection,
while the Temple was a permanent and sta-
ble structure. The one was adapted to an
unsettled people on a toilsome journey, the
other to a state of tranquillity and national
prosperity. The narrative in both cases
shows that a generous spirit can live under
any circumstances, in poverty and in wealth,
in journeying or abiding, at home or abroad.
The principle is independent of changing
circumstances. At all times and in all con-
ditions the people of the Lord are expected
to be generous in his service.

As the offerings for the Tabernacle were
adapted to the wilderness state of Israel and
to their condition of poverty, so their ser-
vices for the Temple were worthy of their
advancement in civilization and prosperity.
Their contributions were magnificent. They

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 277

are thus described in the discourse of Dr.
Brown, formerly referred to : " The donations
of David and his people astonish us by their
magnitude. In addition to the immense
sums which he had amassed during his reign
for the building of the Temple, he, on the
occasion referred to, devoted to this pious
purpose what is equivalent to about eighteen
'millions of our money; and his people's
joint contributions considerably exceed thir-
ty millions." It is easy to pronounce 1%ese
sums, but there are few who have any just
apprehension of their value as they thought-
lessly read of them. They discover an
amount of wealth and a largeness of heart
to which in these days there is nothing to
compare in the efforts of Christian benevo-
lence. All the contributions of all the
Christian Churches on the face of the earth,
for all missionary purposes, fall immeasura-
bly short of this single offering on the part
of ancient Israel and their king.

It is partly to be explained by observing
who they were that gave on this occasion,
and in what manner they did so. Here is
the narrative: "David assembled all the
princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes,
and the captains of the companies that min-
istered to the king by course, and the cap-

278 THE SCRIPTURE RULE .

tains over the thousands, and captains over
the hundreds, and the stewards over all the
substance and possession of the king, and of
his sons, with the officers, and with the
mighty men, and with all the valiant men,
unto Jerusalem." "Then the chief of the
fathers and princes of the tribes- of Israel,
and the captains of thousands and of hun-
dreds, with the rulers of the king's work,
offered willingly." And "the people re-
joigpd for that they offered willingly to the
Lord, and David the king also rejoiced with
great joy." The conduct of the parties was
as noble as their station. Had such not
borne their part in some measure commen-
surate to their position in society, the work
could not have been accomplished. When
shall such a scene be witnessed here ? What
aid are the rulers and wealthy men of the
land giving to the spread of Christianity?
Are their contributions commensurate with
their position, and responsibility, and wealth?
We are jealous of their consistency, and we
must remind them of their accountability.
Let us be borne with while we ask, "What
are even ministers of the gospel in affluent
circumstances doing to help forward the
work of the Lord by their contributions?
We have heard reports of their princely

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIB.DTION. 279

salaries ; to what are these devoted ? Are
their names and subscriptions prominent in
the lists. of those who are trying to build up
and enlarge Zion ? We bring no railing ac-
cusation, but we cannot help saying there is
cause for solemn inquiry. It cannot be that
the cause of God shall be neglected by the
great and noble without incurring much
guilt. O that America were as it was with
Israel in the days of King David, when the
king, and the princes, and the nobles, led
the way in the work of the Lord ! Were it
so, we should enjoy a measure of peace and
prosperity not at present known among us.
" Then should the earth yield her increase,
and God, even our own God, would bless
us."

Yet there was no extravagant excitement
in the conduct of David and his nobles.
The whole proceeding was marked by a
spirit the most calm and considerate. It
was indeed a determined one, and in such a
cause it ought to be so. "I have prepared
with all my might for the cause of my God,"
said David. He weighed the matter well,
and acted with a clear and steady purpose.
Yet his uprightness is most prominent. " Be-
cause I have set my affection to the house
of my God, I have of mine own proper good

280 THE SCRIPTURE KULE

given to tlie house of my God." His affec-
tion for the work is assigned as a reason
why he acted both generously and honestly.
It opened his heart to give, but it taught
him. also that he must take care to give only
that which was his own, knowing that no
cause could have the Lord's blessing which
was not sustained in accordance with his
will and law. David and his nobles were as
careful to give honestly as they were to give
1 at all. This is a blessed example to the com-
munity. The great are not only to contrib-
ute, but to do so in a way that will command
respect and approbation. It is when this is
the state of a people, the rich and the poor
will feel aright toward one another, and
dwell in concord and common prosperity.

A beautiful example is presented 011 this
occasion of the effect of the conduct of the
great on that of the public at large. " All
the congregation blessed the Lord God of
their fathers." "The people rejoiced." The
poorest had their part as well as the richest.
They never imagined they were exempted
from the duty, or excluded, from the privi-
lege of giving. And this is never to be for-
gotten. The work is to be done in common.
All are to labor at it. Every one should
resolve, I will have at least a stone in the

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 281

building of the Lord. I cannot do what I
would, but I will do what I can.

This work ended in a way worthy of its
commencement "David blessed the Lord
before all the congregation, and said, Bless-
ed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father,
forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the majesty; for all that is
in the heaven and in the earth is thine ; both
riches and honor come of thee ; and in thine
hand it is to make great, and to give strength
unto all. But who am I, or what is my peo-
ple, that we should be able to offer so will-
ingly, after this sort? for all things come of
thee, and of thine own have we given thee."
It is where this spirit of piety and prayerful
dependence prevails we may expect such re-
sults as these. When are we to witness or
exemplify them ?

"With this example before us, let us judge
what we are to give to the Lord, and to do
for his cause. What do we think of the
tenth in the light of such a transaction ? Not
in vain had the law of God educated this
people in an enlarged liberality. There must
have been long training to call forth and ex-
ercise such a spirit. It was not the product
of a day. Deep principles must have got

282 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

hold of the hearts of the people, great and
small. They show us what they were and
what they thought. And their example of
generosity ought not to be lost on the present
generation. It is much needed. The Lord
grant that through his "blessing it may be
effectual.

THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA.

It is not in one form only the examples of
Scripture are presented to us. They are
national and individual, public and private.
We have seen what was done unitedly, let
us also see what was done singly. There is
some danger of being so dazzled with great
and striking exhibitions of generosity on a
broad scale as to cause us to forget our indi-
vidual responsibility. We therefore select
a special case, and that presenting as strong
a contrast to what we have been considering
as can well be imagined. The history to
which we refer is recorded in 1 Kings xvii,
8-24:. All the features of it seem to be or-
dered so as to teach, that there are none who
may not and ought not to exercise generosity
in the service of God. It was that of a. wo-
man. Often the Scriptures tell of such, that
it may not be supposed they are exempted
from taking part in the work of the Lord.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 283

She was a widow. The name is the strong-
est association we have in our language with
helplessness and dependence. What can
such a one do ? She was poor. "I hare not
a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel
and a little oil in a cruse." She was in the
extremity of a famine. "I am gathering
two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for
me and my son, that we may eat it and die."
Yet to her the prophet Elijah is sent in his
strait that she may feed him. This circum-
stance is specially noticed by Christ in the
ISTew Testament: "Many widows were in
Israel in the days of Elias, when the heavens
were shut up three years and six months,
when great famine was throughout the land ;
but unto none of them was Elias sent save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman
that was a widow." It is mentioned as a
distinguishing favor conferred upon her.
Difficult and distressing as her circum-
stances were, she fell in with the proposal of
the prophet to relieve his hunger. At first
she hesitated, and did not see either her duty
or the possibility of compliance. But a word
of encouragement and explanation satisfied
her, and. she was resolved, to try what she
could do for the Lord and his servant.
"She went and did according to the saying

284: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

of Elijah." And she had no cause to regret
it. The Lord's blessing rested on her and
rewarded her. "The barrel of meal wasted
not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, accord-
ing to the word of the Lord which he spoke
by Elijah." Now, why is all this recorded?
What is the purpose of this simple narrative
of a lonely and destitute widow ? Surely to
teach us there is no one who may not do
good. Surely to teach us a generous heart
may dwell under a garb of the greatest pov-
erty. Surely to teach us we should never
decline a proposal to do good and relieve
distress when it is in the power of our hand
to do it. Surely to teach us we shall never
serve the Lord or his cause in vain. Many
a widow's heart has this record cheered.
Yery good it is in God that he gave it a
place in his word. It may be as the hidden
flower in the luxuriant garden. It does not
at first attract us. But when we take it up
and examine it, how lovely! worthy of its
Author ! He is infinite in wisdom and love.
Let none decline some part in the Lord's
work. However humble, there is a place
he is to occupy, and a work he is to do. The
generous heart will move the hand to activ
ity. Remember the widow of Sarepta.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 285

THE WIDOW'S MITE.

One other example let us just notice be-
fore concluding this part of the subject. It
is recommended to us as having occurred in
the ministry of Christ, having called forth
his most emphatic approval, and so being
distinctly illustrative of the spirit of his gos-
pel. It is thus recorded: "Jesus sat over
against the treasury, and beheld how the
people cast money into the treasury; and
many that were rich cast in much. And
there came a certain poor widow, and she
threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and
said unto them, Yerily, I say unto you, that
this poor widow hath cast more in than all
they which have cast into the treasury ; for
all they did cast in of their abundance ; but
she of her want did cast in all that she had,
even all her living." What a scene is here !
Jesus was looking on. How little the crowds
thought of this! And it is so still. His eye
is upon all men, he is taking cognizance of
their doings, and yet they perceive it not,
think not of it, and are not influenced by it.
What did he see, and what did he think and
say of it ? He saw the people casting their,
money into the treasury according to the law,

286 THE SCKIPTTJKE KULE

and in particular lie observed that many rich
persons cast in much. "With this he does not
find fault. The act was a proper one in itself,
and whether it was acceptable or not de-
pended on what he saw to be the. spirit by
which it was prompted. If it was pride or
self-righteousness, it was hateful in his sight ;
if it -was in compliance with the law, and out
of regard to the authority of God and the
good of men, it was accepted and approved.
We are not told, however, what he thought
of these rich men and their offerings. There
is another person and another offering that
attract and absorb his attention. And he
calls the special attention of his disciples to
what he observed and desired to say of it.
The person was " a certain poor widow "
somebody whose name was not known there,
suffering under the privations of poverty, yet
casting in a farthing. And what of this?
"Who minds it? The poor woman and her
miserable offering were perhaps in the way
while some portly magnate strutted forward
to deposit his princely gift. But hear the
judgment of Him who shall at last judge the
world. He that made the worlds, of whom
it is written, "The earth is the Lord's and
the fullness thereof," remarks with emphasis,
"This poor widow hath cast in more than

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 287

they all," more in the account of God,
more in the way of securing his acceptance
and blessing, more for the furtherance of the
great end for which that treasury had been
appointed. But Christ gives the explanation
himself: "They all did cast in of their abun-
dance, but she of her want did cast in all
that she had, even all her living." "What
they gave they could easily spare, and feel
no inconvenience ; what she gave left her,
in all human calculation, to want the neces-
saries of life. Is our Lord's judgment of this
case the opinion that would be entertained
or expressed of it by thousands in our day?
They would count such conduct the height
of folly and absurdity, while He who had
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge de-
clared his admiration of it. What! God
gives a poor widow a farthing, she needs it
to buy bread, and yet she goes and casts it
into a contribution for the spread of religion !
Has the poor woman not lost her understand-
ing ? Many would think so. Well, be it re-
membered, Jesus thought the reverse.

There is, perhaps, no passage in the word
of God that has been more perverted and
at) used than this simple and beautiful inci-
dent. A rich man or woman proceeds to
deposit an oifering to the cause of God, and

288 THE SCRIPTTJBE KULE

remarks, witli.an air of extreme humility,
" I have been giving my mite to the cause."
.Indeed ! Have you? Just inquire what is
"meant by a mite. We do not say that the
term mite is synonymous with moiefy, yet
they so resemble one another as to suggest
the idea of some affinity in their meaning.
Moiety signifies the one-half of anything. If, ,
then, mite be derived from it, it denotes a
large share, even a half, of that which is in
question. Have you then given the one-
half of what you possess, or of what you
ought to give ? But this poor widow is not
said to have cast in her mite, but two mites,
two moities, two halves ; that is, the whole
sum which she possessed. And so our Lord
explains it: "She did cast in all that she
had." Let this language be laid aside, as it
is commonly used. All allusion to such; "an
incident as this is most unbecoming in those
most given to the use of it. Their conduct
is the very reverse of this poor widow's.
They are to be classed with the rich- on
whom Christ looked, it is not said whether
with approval or displeasure, and not with
the poor widow, with whom they -are. not
worthy to be associated. Yet this inci^etit
is a beautiful exponent of the spirit of the
gospel. It shows what Christ expects in his

OF RELIGIOUS COimaBTJTION. 289

followers. No doubt, too, it has mightily
tended to form and cherish a generous spirit
in many of them. It is known to all, and
many have caught his spirit expressed in it,
and acted according to it. For much as
there is reason to lament and to complain of
the sad prevailing want of liberality in the
Church of Christ, there are yet those to
whom there has been given a large and no-
ble generosity. Such there ever have been,
and their number, it 'is hoped, is not decreas-
ing. They have been found among rich and
poor, among the laity and ecclesiastics,
among the judges of the land and rulers of
the people. The Honorable Sir Robert
Boyle with his high intellectual attainments,
Sir Matthew Hale gracing the bench of just-
ice, Richard Baxter, Dr. Doddridge, and
John "Wesley, all held high views of the duty
of religious contribution, and they acted
upon them. Every one of these great men
held the opinion that no believer in Revela-
tion could consistently give less than a tenth
of his income to the service of the Lord,
and some of them went much further in
both their principles and practices. Some
indications have appeared of an advancing
attainment in this respect in the Church of
our time. All Churches are owning the ob-

19

290 THE SCKIPTUKE RULE

ligations, and making some feeble attempt to
give and to get for the spread of the gospel.
Examples have appeared of large-hearted-
ness that are a good earnest of a better state
of things. It could hardly be otherwise than
it is in the low views entertained by many.
They have not been informed nor roused
upon the subject. But the day of apathy,
we trust, is gone. Many are asking for the
"old paths," and soon, we hope, will be
found walking in them. The spirit of Abra-
ham, and Jacob, and Moses, and Christ, and
of his early Churches, will revive, ar.d men
will encourage one another, saying, " Who
is willing to consecrate his service this day
unto the Lord?" The Lord hasten it in his
time !

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 291

CHAPTEE IX.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line,
line upon line ; here a little, and there a little. Isaiah xxviii, 10.

" GIVE a portion to seven, and also to eight :
if the clouds be full of rain, they empty
themselves upon the earth." Although a
curse be upon creation, by reason of man's
sin, yet it is manifestly under a law of be-
neficence, and it is thus proposed as a model
for our imitation. Everything is contribut-
ing to the good of man. The heavenly
bodies give him light ; the clouds pour out
their rain; the earth yields its increase, and
all that is upon it ; the waters teem with liv-
ing creatures for his food; all things are
made for his benefit. Man himself is not
an exception to the rule. He has been
made not merely to receive, but to do good.
Fallen as he is, still this claim lies upon him.
The Scriptures enforce it continually, in all
places, at all times, and in all ways. Every
argument that can avail with a reasonable
mind is everywhere employed throughout
their various revelations. We have precepts
and promises, warnings and encouragements.

292 THE SCBIPTUKE KULE

facts and prophecies. To consider all these
with any measure of minuteness is impossi-
ble ; yet it may be well to glance at them,
that we may see the fullness of Scripture in
the enforcement of well-doing, and from its
tone and spirit learn what must be our duty,'
especially in the way of religious contribu-
tion.

PKEOEPTS.

These pervade the whole volume. It is
not easier to gather flowers in the open fields
of nature than it is to find such precepts in
the word of God. "Honor the Lord with
thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all
thine increase." " Cast thy bread upon the
waters, for thou shalt find it after many
days." " In the morning sow thy seed, and
in the evening withhold not thine hand ; for
thou knowest not whether shall prosper,
either this or that, or whether they shall be
alike good." " A good man showeth favor
and lendeth." " Give to him that asketh of
thee, and from him that would borrow of
thee turn not thou away." ""Withhold not
good from them to whom it is due, when it
is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say
not to thy neighbor, Go, and come again,
and to-morrow I will give, when thou hast it

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION". 293

by thee." "To do good, and to communi-
cate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God
is well pleased." " If thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on
his head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good." This is the tone
of Scripture precept. "What is expected of
all who truly receive it ? A few remarks on
these passages, taken almost at random out
of thousands, may be helpful to illustrate
and enforce the pure and delicate principles
involved in them. They assume that God is
to be acknowledged in all we possess. He
must be honored in such a use of it as shall
show we feel it to be a gift from him, and
that it is to be used for him. There is a pe-
culiar force in the phrase, "All thine in-
crease." Whatever is added to our income,
the "first-fruits" belong to God. It is in-
tended to keep us continually in contact
with God, through the bounties of his provi-
dence: It is as if the commands were ever
sounding in our ears, " Occupy till I come ;"
" Give an account of thy stewardship." The
way in which we shall thus honor the Lord
is also pointed out ; it is by doing good to
his creatures, expending our substance in a
way that will be profitable to them. A pa-

294: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

rent feels himself obliged by all the kind-
ness that is shown to his children ; and God
is pleased to assure us he is so pleased to re-
sard whatever is done to his creatures. Es-

O

pecially does a parent estimate the kindness
that is shown to his child out of regard to
him ; and this is a principle continually rec-
ognized in the Scriptures : " Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
ISTot only so, if the kindness be not shown, he
resents it as an injury to himself: " Inas-
much as ye did it not to one of the least of
these my brethren, ye did it not to me."
And it is well known of what he speaks :
" I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat ;
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was
naked, and ye clothed me ; I was a stranger,
and ye took me in ; I was sick and in prison,
and ye visited me/' Or the reverse : " I
was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat ;
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I
was naked, and ye clothed me not; I was a
stranger, and ye took me not in ; I was sick
and in prison, and ye visited me not." It
carries these solemn sayings to the highest
pitch of interest and importance, when it is
remembered that they are given as the pro-
ceedings of Christ in the final judgment of

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 295

the world, and are to be followed by tlie
sentence, " Conie, ye blessed of my Father,"
or " Depart, ye cursed ;" and in accordance
therewith, " These shall go away into ever-
lasting punishment, and the righteous to life
eternal." There is in some of these precepts
quoted a tenderness and delicacy of feeling
inculcated that greatly endear and recom-
mend them. In. the matter of lending we
are enjoined to be frank, candid, and gra-
cious not constraining the applicant to feel
that we are conferring a great favor upon
him. but making him to perceive that what
we do is done freely, and with a sincere de-
sire to serve him. In showing a favor to
another, it is not to be done in a way that
may be irksome, as if we would have it to
be felt we were making a great sacrifice ; it
must be done cheerfully, and at once. In
aiding others who may be seeking our co-
operation in helping them forward in a good
cause, we must give no unnecessary trouble.
"We are not to say to this neighbor, " Go, and
come again, when we have it by us." "We
must respect his feelings, and time, and con-
venience. And while there is this spirit of
considerateness and delicacy in these Scrip-
ture precepts, some of them rise to the lofti-
est height of the noblest principles.

296 . THE SCRIPTURE RULE

unkindness, or injustice, or cruelty, or sin-
fulness, or ingratitude in others, is to hinder
us from doing then! good. If our bitterest
enemy hunger, we are to feed him. The
harder the metal, the greater the heat that
must be applied to fuse it. The greater the
wickedness, the more the kindness that must
be used to overcome it. Heap up coals of
fire on his head, and melt down the hard
heart of our enemy. This assuredly was
the way of Christ. He acted on that prin-
ciple. It is the very basis of his gospel.
"Where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound." It is the most open avenue
to the heart of man. If it cannot be enter-
ed thus, it cannot be entered at all. Would
that it were more frequently tried ! And of
all forms of kindness none is more felt than
the employment of our pecuniary means for
the good of others. Men value money, and
when they see that others use it for their
benefit, it is an argument which they at once
understand and powerfully feel. It strikes a
chord of sympathy which vibrates through
the heart, and takes the man captive in its
bonds. Let it not be said, It is needless to.
dwell on counsels which all admit to be
Scriptural and binding. All admit them,
and few act on them. We are persuaded

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 297

there is much to be learned, not only in the
duty of doing good, but the spirit in which
it should be done ; not only in the matter of
giving, but the manner of it cultivating
that tenderness and delicacy of feeling
which the Scriptures alone have ever fully
apprehended, and rising to that loftiness of
principle which they only who act upon
them can attain.

WARNINGS.

Nor let it be supposed it is left optional
with us whether we shall obey these precepts
or not. We may disregard them ; but if so,
we are warned that we shall abide the conse-
quences. These consequences are distinctly
set before us, and if we expose ourselves to
them we cannot plead the want of plain
speaking in the word of God. Confining our
attention to the single form of benevolence
in pecuniary contribution, it will be well to
listen to the voice of warning which the
Scriptures raise in the ears of all who are not
careful to practice it. The danger of covet-
ousness is set forth with a strength of senti-
ment and a force of language seldom em-
ployed on other sub] ects. The tone in which
it is spoken of betrays a sense of its evil,
which, it is to be feared, few estimate ; and

298 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

tins renders it all the more necessary that we
attend to the warnings of God's word, as
though we heard the voice of Jesus saying,
" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Solomon saith, " There is that scattereth, and
yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth
more than is meet, and it tendeth to pov-
erty." This witness is true. A narrow-
minded man does not usually prosper. He
has not himself a heart to use the means that
are necessary to success. Others take pleas-
ure in thwarting his purposes ; and the bless-
ing of God does not rest on his basket and
store. What a miserable object! The ex-
penditure of a shilling might gain him a
pound, but he cannot force himself to employ
it. Proverbs usually have their foundation
in truth and correct observation; and here
we have an example of it. This man is
known by the appellation of a miser, and the
very term signifies misery. A greater than
Solomon has spoken on the same subject. It
was a frequent topic in the ministry of Christ.
He has given a most emphatic testimony to
his own estimate of wealth in the lowly po-
sition which he chose to occupy on the earth,
in the companions with whom he thought
proper to associate, and in the condition in
which he has been pleased to place many of

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 299

his people. His own mother he left a de-
pendent on the kindness of a disciple ; and
this single fact is full of meaning. But his
speech was often directed to this theme ; and
what said he? In one place he warns
"Take heed, and beware of covetousness;
for a man's life consisteth not in the abund-
ance of the things which he possesseth." It
is difficult to say which is more impressive,
the counsel given here or the argument by
whicli it is enforced. " Take heed, and be-
ware." A double warning is given. ~We
require to take heed, giving our utmost at-
tention to the subject; and when we have
done so, we shall find that we must stand
upon our guard in the attitude of self-de-
fense. For why ? There is nothing so insidi-
ous as the love of the world and its wealth.
It creeps in unperceived and unsuspected;
and when once it has got a footing it is hard
to be dislodged, and it assumes a mastery
over the mind which appears most unaccount-
able and unreasonable. Hence many who,
in the time of their comparative poverty,
were generous, have become, in the posses-
sion of wealth, narrow and illiberal. They
say, and we fear they believe, they cannot
contribute to the cause for which they are
solicited. Covetousness thus seems to destroy

300 THE SCRIPTURE KTFLE

reason as well as religion. It is no wonder,
therefore, that Christ so loudly lifted up his
warning voice against it. Then the reason
which he assigns is in keeping with his coun-
sel " A man's life does not consist in the
abundance which he possesseth." He may
have " the abundance," but not the end for
which life is given ; that is, happiness. This
is in strict accordance with the facts that lie
all around us. Rich men are not more
happy than poor men. The poor are apt to
think they.are, but it is a mistake ; and it is
often found that as a man increaseth wealth
he increases sorrow. He will be delivered
from this evil, certainly, if he attend to one
thing; that is, if he rightly use the wealth
which God has given him : but if he do not
so, he will find, from bitter experience, that
vain is the endeavor to extract sweetness out
of gold. Our Lord does not hesitate, how-
ever, to use even stronger representations
than we have been considering.. To illus-
trate and enforce his saying he employs a
parable. He describes a rich man in the
height of his luxury and enjoyment till he
says, " Soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years ; eat, drink, and be merry."
But then, reversing the scene, he introdiicea
God saying to him, " Thou fool, this night

OF BELICHOUS CONTRrBUTION. 301

thy soul shall be required of thee; then
whose shall those. things be which thou hast
provided?" and he draws this inference, " So
is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and
is not rich toward God." !NTo wonder that
he who thus viewed the subject of ill-used
wealth should say, " It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
He meant that a rich man, yielding to the
temptation of trusting in riches, of which
there is imminent danger, could no more, in
that state of mind, become a subj ect of true re-
ligion here, or attain to its joys hereafter, than
a camel, according to the Jewish proverb,
could pass through the eye of a needle. The
one is literally, and the other morally, im-
possible. We cannot help adding to the tes-
timony of Christ the words of his illustrious
apostle to the Gentiles. Paul says, "They
that will be rich fall into temptation and a
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is the root
of all .evil; which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows."
Fearful warning ! Let us not fail to under-
stand it. It has in view the man that " will

302 THE SCKIPTirEE BttLE

be rich." On this he is determined. To
that he is resolved everything shall yield.
He does not speak of the man whom God
enriches, of him who in his providence pros-
pers in his worldly calling, bnt of the man
who at all hazards of character and principle
is resolved to be rich if he can. Such a man
lie distinctly forewarns, that he will encom-
pass himself with temptations which shall
prove a snare to him, that these temptations
shall provoke evil dispositions in him, that
will prove to be most foolish and hurtful,
that they will end in utter destruction, in all
kinds of evil, cause him to abandon the true:
faith of the gospel, and plunge him into sor-
rows which shall pierce him through at last as
so many poisoned and fatal darts. So speaketh
the Spirit of God of the " love of money." Let
men be warned. Money is good ; it is cause
of thankfulness when God bestows it ; it is a
blessed talent to employ for the good of men
and the glory of God : but if it be misused it
is evil in proportion to the good that it might
have achieved. The best food is the most
injurious to the diseased body, it is not in a
capacity to profit by it; and it is the same
with riches a blessing unspeakable to those
who will use them as God's commands, a
curse terrible to those who misapply them. ^

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 303

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, and so
are the warnings of Scripture.

PROMISES.

We would like to see a complete collection
of these brought together, and presented to
our notice at a glance. The botanist takes
great satisfaction in bringing together all
the different species he can find of one ad-
mired plant, that he may look at their com-
mon features in connection with their minute
and beautiful varieties. So also the naturalist
in every department of his study. All the
works of God resemble each other. As it is
in his creation, so it is in his word. Same-
ness and variety pervade the whole. At
present we shall indulge our admiration of
his word in the matter of his promises, con-
fining our attention to one class, however,
those which relate to the right use of money,
and so set forth vividly the advantages of
liberality. Referring to a passage quoted
among the precepts, Solomon having said,
"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and
the first-fruits of all thine increase," adds,
"So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
and thy presses shall burst out with new
wine." The enjoyments and necessaries of
life shall be certain. Both are guaranteed

304: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

to every one who acts as lie is command-
ed. And why should we doubt the truth
of the promises? How easy it is in God
to make them good ! He can touch a
spring in providence that either opens or
shuts the door of our prosperity. . If we are
dependent on the field, his elements can
either mature or destroy our property at his
bidding. If commerce is our pursuit, he can
restrain or stimulate our minds, or those of
the men with whom we have had to do, so
as to issue in our loss or gain. It is greatly
to be deplored that this is not sufficiently
considered. Even the Lord's people do not
enough lay upon themselves the duty of re-
membering God and his providence in every
transaction. If they did so, they would find
it to contribute vastly both to their peace
and their prosperity. In another place Solo-
mon says, "He that hath pity on the poor
lendeth to the Lord ; and that which he hath
given will he pay him again." The state-
ment cannot be made plainer, and if any
man doubt the truth of it we have no au-
thority to plead higher than the word in
which it is contained. God hath said it.
David says of the rightous man, "Wealth
and riches shall be in his house ;" and then
he proceeds to explain the graces, in the ex-

OF KEUGHOTJ8 CONTRIBUTION. 305

ercise of which he will be sure to meet with
the promised reward, saying, " A good man
showeth favor and lendeth : he will guide
his affairs with discretion." The promise is
not to every good man, act as he may, wisely
or foolishly, but to the good man acting
generously, and at the same time as dis-
creetly as generously. The prophet Isaiah
takes up the same subject, and says, "The
liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal
things shall he stand." God will so order it,
that in serving others he will lay the founda-
tion of his own prosperity. As the clouds
pour out their water on the earth, and the
very abundance with which it is given
causes the vapor to ascend again and fill the
clouds afresh, so " the liberal man," in doing
liberal things, is creating, though without
his own design, an influence that will return
back again seven-fold into his own bosom.
Jesus, too, has spoken on the same subject.
" Seek first," he says, " the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you." " Give, and it shall
be given unto you ; good measure, pressed
down, and shaken together, and running
Over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that ye mete withal,

it shall be measured to you again." This is

20

306 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

the faithful and true witness. And in eor-
roboration of his testimony, let us for a mo-.
ment look at the principles inculcated upon
Israel, at the period of the return from Baby-
lon and the second building of the Temple,
and the measures founded upon them.
Haggai is commissioned to say, " Go up to
the mountain, and bring wood, and build the
house ; and 1 will take pleasure in it, and I
will be glorified, saith the Lord. Te looked
for much, and lo, it came to little ; and when
ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.
Why ? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of
my house that is waste, and ye run every
rnaii unto his own house." These words told
upon the people : " They came .and did work
in the house of the Lord of hosts." And
the prophet was then commissioned to pro-
claim, "From this day I will bless you."
Malachi spoke in like manner: "Bring ye
all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove
me now herewith, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough
to receive it. And I will rebuke the de-
vourer for your sakes, and he shall not de-
stroy the fruits of your ground ; neither shall
your vine cast her fruit before the time in the
field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all na-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. SOT

tions shall call you blessed : for ye shall be
a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts."
These are words of truth and soberness.
They declare the unchangeable and eternal
principles of the divine government. They
were exemplified in the prosperity of Israel,
while they acted in accordance with them.
" All the promises of God are in Christ
Jesus yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God." The glory of God is bound
up in the fulfillment of the promises. And
of these promises, as of all others, it may be
said, " Hath he spoken, and shall he not do
it ? He is not a man that he should lie, nor
the son of man that he should repent."

PROPHECIES.

Without a glance at these, the subject
would be incomplete. "We cannot repress
the desire to know how it shall be with the
Church in future times, and God hath gra-
ciously told us. Much darkness hangs in
many respects over its coming history, yet
in the matter of the enlarged and generous
spirit which is destined one day to prevail,
the Spirit hath spoken expressly. There are
passages in his word, not a few, devoted to
the delineation of the latter-day glory. They
seem as if they were intended to sustain the

308 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

drooping spirit of God's saints under their
many difficulties and depressions. They cry,
"Who hath believed our report, and to whom
hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
And he "puts a new song into their mouth,
even praise unto our God." The Book of
Revelation, in particular, dark as some of its
intimations are, is yet clear in the represent-
ation of the ultimate issue of all things in the
universal spread and triumph of the gospel.
However we may fail to trace the steps By
which Jesus shall go forth conquering and
to conquer, yet of this there can be no doubt,
that he will continue his conquests until the
cry is raised, " The kingdoms of this world
are the kingdoms of our God and his Christ."
ISTow in these sublime and encouraging pre-
dictions, one feature frequently marked is
the generosity by which the Lord's people
shall be distinguished in the day of coming
glory. And to a few of these passages it
will be suitable to recur. Isaiah, treating of
this very subject, largely and expressly, says,
" The vile person shall no more be called lib-
eral, nor the churl said to be bountiful." He
intimates that it may be so now, but that it
shall not always be so. A complete change
will pass over the views and judgments of
men. Many are esteemed liberal men who

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 309

would then be regarded as the personifica-
tion of covetousness. See what men can give
now for personal and family luxuries, and
compare it with what they devote to the
cause of Grod, and the proportion is misera-
ble ; not a tenth it may be, perhaps much
less. Yet because they give at all, or be-
times give beyond what is common, or what
was expected of them, their character is ele-
vated to the idea of liberality, and men speak
of them as if they were indeed generous. It
shall not be so in the day to which we look
forward. Men will then judge righteous
judgment. A narrow inquiry will be made
into means and expenditure. A faithful rule
of proportion will be applied to the contribu-
tion. And character and conduct will be
estimated, not by the false and deceitful
rules of a covetous generation, but by the
broad and eternal principles of man's rela-
tion to God, and his obligations to Christ and
his cause. Another prophet opens our view
still further, and tells us what men will do
in those days. To David this is a frequent
and delightful theme, and in one of his
Psalms, expressly set to the music of the
conquering Messiah's triumphs, he says,
" The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a
gift, even the rich among the people shall

310 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

entreat thy favor." Tyre was the great mart
of ancient commerce. This, therefore, is a
prophecy that commerce shall be laid tribu-
tary at the feet of Jesus its wealth, its en-
terprise, its discoveries, and its labors. Every
one who looks at what is taking place in the
earth must see that the destiny of the world
is likely soon to be in the hands of its mer-
chants. This is a consummation to be de-
voutly desired. There is no class whose in-
fluence is so great, and from whom so much
may be expected. Commerce enlarges the
mind beyond any other earthly employment.
While riches increase by its energetic pur-
suit, they do not seem to take so fast a hold
of the mind as when otherwise obtained.
There is a readiness to give which is not
found in other professions. The giving as
well as the getting of money may become a
habit. And there are thus even natural
principles on which the greater liberality of
this class of men may be explained. But
above all, their enterprise, how it surprises
and delights us ! Whose are the railways
that are now connecting kingdom with king-
dom as hamlet used to be with hamlet?
They have been devised and paid for by
those merchants, who, we say, happily are
become as princes in the earth. They are

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTIOjSr. 311

bridging over the nations that before were
far apart, and making a highway for the
redeemed of the Lord to pass over. They
are constructing a pathway for the mission-
ary to all people of the earth. They may
not, some of them, or even many of them,
intend it, yet God is doing it by them. We
cannot help applying, almost literally, to
this astonishing change in the state of things,
the words of the: prophet: "Every valley
shall be exalted, and every mountain and
hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall
be made straight, and the rough places plain :
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together: for the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Com-
merce has thus become the John the Bap-
tist of the present day. It is the voice cry-
ing, " Prepare the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight." Rather we should say,
God is thus speaking by it. In his provi-
dence he is opening these facilities for the
spread of his truth. Let us feel the obliga-
tions that are thus laid upon us, and all the
more that the facilities for the spread of
error and sin keep pace with those for truth
and godliness. Only we have confidence in
right principles. Great is the truth, and it
will prevail. Better still, God has said, " The

312 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth
as the waters do the sea." All shall -be
directed and overruled to that end. So
eaith another prophet: "In that day shall
there be upon the bells [or bridles] of the
horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the
pots in the Lord's house shall be like the
bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in
Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness
unto the Lord of hosts: and in that day
there shall be no more the Canaanite in the
house of the Lord of hosts." This is the
purpose which the God of the whole earth,
hath purposed. Blessed be his name, none
can hinder or frustrate it. On everything in
the Church on everything in the world, the
inscription will be written, "Holiness unto
the Lord." It is his, and it is hereby dedi-
cated to him. Our souls are his, and we
write upon them "Holiness unto the Lord."
Our bodies are his, and we write upon them
" Holiness unto the Lord." Our children and
families are his, and we write upon them "Ho-
liness: unto the Lord." Our Churches and
their ordinances are his, and we write upon
them "Holiness unto the Lord." .Our labors
are his, and we write upon them "Holi-
ness unto the Lord." Our wealth is his, and
we write upon it, in lines of deep and dum-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 313

ble inscription, because it was so long with-
holden from him, but now wholly, freely,
and forever rendered up to Mm, to his ser-
vice, and cause, and glory,

" HOLINESS TJNTO THE LORD."

314: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSION-.

Let us bear the conclusion of the whole matter. Eccles. xli, 18.

WHAT proportion of his income should a be-
liever in revelation dedicate to the cause of
God? "Holy men of old spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost," and they
have answered the question. "We have
cited them as our only witnesses, and we
have examined their testimony in detail.
Desirous to know what the mind of God on
the question is, and believing they were
commissioned to declare it, we have consult-
ed them one by one, and heard what each
had to say. Before dismissing the subject,
it may be well to cite them forward once
more, and hear their united testimony. Let
us consider ourselves a jury solemnly im-
panneled in the presence of God the Judge,
adjured to give an honest verdict on the evi-
dence to be laid before us, and to find
whether any believer in the revelation they
carry to us can consistently devote less than
a tenth of his income to the cause of God.
ABRAHAM first claims attention, and gives

OF RELIGIOUS CONTEIBUTIOK. 315

his testimony. He. deposes as follows: God
found me in Ur of the Chaldees, rapidly
sinking with my fathers into idolatry. He
called me in his sovereignty, and sanctified
me by his grace. He honored me with the
appellation of " the Friend of God." Deep-
ly did I feel my obligation to him, but es-
pecially on some peculiar occasions when he
interposed remarkably on my behalf, and
not only preserved me and mine, but enrich-
ed me with increased substance. At such
times, in token of my gratitude, I devoted
the tenth of what he had given me to his
immediate service." I did so because my
heart prompted me to honor my benefactor ;
because it was right in itself, and because I
knew, either from express revelation or the
practice of God's people in those days, that
such an offering was required, and would be
accepted, by the Lord. This is the amount
of my testimony, and for further information
on the subject I refer you to my distinguish-
ed grandson Jacob, the younger son of my
beloved Isaac.

JACOB bore willing testimony, and said : I
have hearkened to the speech of my vener-
ated forefather, and heartily acquiesce in all
he has said. It is manifest from the light of
nature, as well as from the law of God and

316 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

the practice of his people, that our obliga-
tion should be acknowledged to God by the
dedication of some part of our property to
him. My grandfather has told you what his
practice was that on every special occasion
of increase to his property he gave a tenth
to God. I have done the same, but I have
also gone further. Early in life I was favor-
ed with a gracious revelation of the Lord,
and was much moved by it. Under the im-
pression which it made upon my mind, I
engaged that of all the Lord should ever
give me, I would give the tenth to him.
Sometimes in the occupations of this life I
forgot my vow, but God in his providence
reminded me of my duty, and roused me to
the performance of it. Thus I had the ex-
press approval of the Lord to my practice,
and so I continued to pursue it as long as I
lived. You may judge from my practice
what J[ hold to be the principles of the divine
word. Look into the law of Moses, and
you will find that he bears similar testimony,
and carries the claims of God further than I
have done.

MOSES appeared, and presented himself
with the law of God, written by his express
command. He stated : Abraham and Jacob
have both correctly stated how it hath been

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION.

from the beginning. A tenth is the propor-
tion in which it has been customary to serve
the Lord. But the world is grown older
than it was in the days of my fathers, and
its obligations to the Most High are increas-
ed. He has now given his written oracles,
and in them he has embodied, in the form of
law, and under the sanction of- express stat-
ute, wiiat it is his will that his people should
do. A tenth is the well-known proportion
that has been offered from the beginning,
and therefore it is recognized in the law
but it is not merely a single tenth. .There is
a tenth for the support of the ministry, a
tenth for the feasts and sacrifices, a tenth
every third year for the poor, a tenth from
every Levite for the priesthood ; and, as if
to render these offerings essential, the ser-
vices for which they are required are perpetu-
al ; they are the most various as well as con-
stant, and beyond all that are prescribed by
law, free-will offerings are expected from
every devout Israelite. . The whole economy
is so planned as to train the Lord's people to
habits of generosity, and to overcome the
natural selfishness of the human mind. The
testimony which I bear, therefore, is that a
tenth is the lowest proportion ever recog-
nized ; that the law goes far beyond it, even

318 THE SCULPTURE KULE

to a fifth or a third, and. that He who knew
what was in man laid it as an indispensable
obligation on the conscience of every man
thus to honor God with his substance. *

The APOSTLES followed Moses, and told
how it was in their day. "We were present,
say they, when Christianity was ushered into
the world, amid the glories of the day of
Pentecost and the effusion of the Holy Ghost.
We did not forget that we were Jews, and
amenable to the law of Moses. "We were
taught that its mere ceremonies, having
served their purpose, were to cease. The
stars disappeared when the sun arose in the
heavens. Still the eternal principles of the
ancient law continued. In particular, the"
duty of giving to the Lord remained in full
force. As our privileges were increased, the
demands were advanced ; and so powerfully
was this felt, that, in the emergency to which
the cause of Christ was then brought, the
disciples felt the obligation of disposing of
their worldly properties to contribute to the
cause of Jesus and the maintenance of his
truth. Wherefore our testimony is, that
while none can give less than a tenth to
God, as ancient law and practice had it,
there is yet to be no express limit put to the
generosity of the Christian heart.

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 319

THE GREAT APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES rose
to confirm this testimony. I was not pres-
ent, said Paul, on the day of Pentecost. I
was then the bitter enemy of Jesus, but lie
revealed himself to me as I went to perse-
cute his followers. Blessed Jesus ! You
ask me how we should use our worldly prop-
erty for him. I can only reply, We should
give ourselves to him. We are not. our
own, being bought with a price. "We should
live with the utmost frugality, that we may
have to give to Jesus and' his cause. This
has been the practice of his Churches from
the first. Those of Macedonia, even in a
season of great distress and poverty, still did
riot relax in this duty. They denied them-
selves in many things, but they did not abate
anything of their contribution to uphold the
truth of Christ. I was taught by the Spirit
to inculcate the same duty strongly on the
rich Church at Corinth, and I did so. And,
in a word, I have left this for the permanent
rule of the -Christian Church to the end of
time: "On the first day of the week let
every one of you lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered him." This is the
amount of my testimony.

ALL THE SAINTS arose as soon as the Apos-
tle of the Gentiles ceased. Jews and Gen-

320 THE SCRIPTURE RULE

tiles united tlieir testimony. At the erection
of the Tabernacle, said the Jews, we gave
cheerfully, we all gave, men and women;
we gave what we possessed, and we had to
be restrained from .giving. At the building
of the Temple we did in like manner. Our
kings, our nobles, and our people rivaled
one another in the offerings of gratitude and
love. The Gentiles claimed to say that they
had not fallen behind their brethren the
Jews. They adopted their Scriptures for
their guide, and conformed their conduct to
their requirement, not merely joyfully de-
voting their tenth, but whatever else besides
their circumstances enabled them to do or
give. "Widows were there the widow of
Sarepta, and she who had cast in her all to
the treasury of the Lord. They were in
great honor that day, as those who had best
expounded the law by obeying it.

THE BIBLE, when these witnesses had
spoken, was laid on the table. .This, said the
Judge, is the rule by which you are to de-
termine. Mark its precepts, note its warn-
ings, consider its promises, and enter into the
spirit of its predictions. With these before
you, my charge to you is to declare what you
believe to be its doctrine on 'the subject of
religious contribution especially, what pro-

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 321

portion of liis income a ^believer in reve-
lation should give to the cause of God.
And whether it is your opinion that in the
judgment of this book he can consistently
give less than a tenth, or whether he should
not give more,- in some instances much
more?

JESUS CHRIST presented himself when the
Judge concluded, and said "Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world." "How much owest thou unto
thy Lord?"

To all who own themselves the followers
of this Divine Redeemer we now say, " Con-
sider of it, take advice, and speak your
minds." " Behold ye are all children of Is-
rael ; give here your advice and counsel." ,
In the light of the evidence adduced we de-
mand an answer to the question, Does the
Bible require that every man shall give at
least a tenth of his income to the cause of
charity and. of Christ ? There can be only
one answer and there is not a demonstration
in Euclid based on clearer or more satisfac-
tory evidence It does ! As for those who
dispute it, if there be any such, we refer them
to the j udgment-seat of Christ. We shall all
meet there, and give account to one another

and to him. Meantime let us inquire what

21

322 THE SCKIPTUKE KULE

is our present duty, considering what has
been said, and so have done.

1. We cannot help saying, our first duty
is to be convicted of sin. Well does it be-
come us to say, " We are verily guilty con-
cerning our brother when we saw the anguish
of his soul, and would not hear." The law
of God has been in our hands, to a large ex-
tent, a dead letter. Under the perverse idea
that the gospel has released us from the pre-
cise demands of the law, thousands bearing
the Christian name and making a Christian
profession have felt no obligation to devote a
portion of their property to him. Either
they have formed no opinion on the subject,
or they have entertained an incorrect one.

t Some have given, but far more from impulse
than principle. They have been solicited
and contributed but had they been let
alone they would have given nothing.
An opinion requires to be created in the
Church on this subject. And that it should
be so in this age of the world is full of guilt.

2. Let us confess our sin. As we have
much need, so have we also great encourage-
ment to do it. "If we confess our sins, God
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This
gracious word, however, if not acted upon,

OF RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTION. 323

will greatly aggravate our condemnation.
Sin known and proved, but not confessed,
although God waits to be gracious, is very
aggravated. Let it not be ours. Let each
confess his own sin so far as he sees he has
not been careful to know what is the mind
of the Lord, or to act upon it. Let every
one weigh the matter well, in its unhappy
influence and fearful consequences, until his
spirit is stirred within him, as it ought to be.
Let us confess the sin of others, of the com-
munity, of the Church, and especially so far
as we may have contributed to it, either by
our neglect or evil example. It were a good
omen if a spirit of humiliation were given,
and sin was freely confessed to the Lord.
And until such shall be manifested there can
be little hope of amendment.

3. "We should amend our ways. Confession
without amendment is hypocrisy. Humilia-
tion is good as a means ; but it is hot an end.
We should humble ourselves and t.nrn unto
the Lord. When Joshua abased himself be-
fore the Lord, as it was right he should do, be-
cause the people had been discomfited before
Ai, on account of some sin which had not been
detected, the Lord said unto him, " Get thee
up ; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face ?
Up, sanctify thy people : thou canst not stand

324: THE SCRIPTURE RULE

before thine enemies, until ye take away the
accursed thing from among you." The sin
must be put away. This is the law of the
Lord universally. As Joshua set on foot an
investigation in the camp, and pursued it
till the offender was detected and destroyed,
so must we do. Let us try ourselves whether
we have kept the law of our God in this
matter or not. Have we given the tenth
to him at least? If not, say how much
owest thou unto him, and "pay what thou
owest." Do not delay this duty. Do it now.
You cannot have peace of mind till you do
so. It may cost you a struggle, but the end
will be peace. Having entered on the right
path, pursue it. You have got hold of the
right principle, and be sure you keep it.
Say with David, "I thought on my ways,
and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I
made haste, and delayed not to keep thy
commandments." Act thus, and you may
add, " Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed
are they that keep his testimonies, and that
seek him with the whole heart. They also
do no iniquity : they walk in his ways. Thou
hast commanded us to keep thy precepts
diligently." Be sure and determined that
as you have seen what the will of the Lord

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKEBDTIOIf. 325

is, you will conscientiously, faithfully, and
perseveringly abide by it.

4. It is our duty to endeavor to lead others
also into right views and practices. "]SFo
man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself." "We are accountable for all the
influence we are capable of exercising. The
education of the Church in right views of
giving to the Lord is yet to be begun. For
this purpose the school, the family, the pul-
pit, and the press, ought to be brought into
requisition. Every teacher of the young
should imbue them early with just views of
contribution founded on the word of God ;
every parent should train his household to
habits of giving, causing them to know this
is a duty which God has made to be as in-
dispensable as any other ; the minister of the
gospel should lift his voice like a trumpet,
and give no uncertain sound, showing to the
people the sin of withholding, and the duty
of giving ; the press should teem with tracts
and volumes until all would know what the
mind of the Lord is. Until the public mind
is thus learned, the present wretched penury
in all that pertains to the cause of God, can-
not be overcome. Prayer and diligence,
however, with the promised blessing, will
accomplish it.

326 THE SCRlPrUKK KULE

5. Finally, let us keep steadily in view
the great end ever to be aimed at in the con-
secration of our property to God. The mere
act of giving is good, for it is a useful exer-
cise of mind. The habit is one of the most
salutary which can be formed for our own
benefit. Still this is not the ultimate object.
That is the subjection of the world to Jesus.
We give that he may be honored. "We pray,
"Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,"
and we use the means which Christ has ap-
pointed for the accomplishment of these de-
sires. We have great encouragements and
powerful inducements to employ them at the
present time. "The field is the world," and
God has opened it to his servants. Peace
prevails upon the' earth. As when Jesus
came the temple of Janus was closed at
Rome to intimate that peace universally pre-
vailed, and as it was by that arrangement
of Divine Providence the apostles had access
to the nations around them, so now again, in
a greatly widened circle, men are at peace
with one another, and the way is opened to
the messengers of the cross, to'whom God is
saying, Enter ye in and possess the land.
Who can tell how long it may so continue?
If the opportunity is not embraced, it will

OF RELIGIOUS CONTKIBUTIOIT. 327

no doubt "be withdrawn. Then how bitter
will be the remembrance of the lost oppor-
tunity ! If it is embraced, how blessed the
results ! The gospel with its benefits will be
conveyed to all men. "Judgment shall
dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness
remain in the fruitful field. And the work
of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect
of righteousness quietness and assurance for-
ever. And my people shall dwell in a peace-
able habitation, and in sure dwellings, and
in quiet resting-places." The highest condi-
tion of earthly prosperity and the universal
acclamation of honor to Christ shall encircle
the globe. "There shall be a handful of
corn in the earth upon the top of the moun-
tains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Leb-
anon : and they of the city shall flourish like
grass of the earth. His name shall endure
forever : his name shall be continued as long
as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in him :
all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed
be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only
doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his
glorious name forever ; and let the whole
earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and
Amen."

O Lord, wilt thou condescend to employ
us to accomplish a consummation such as

328 THE SCRIPTURE KULE.

this ? Wilt thou deign to accept our offer-
ings? "The silver and the gold are thine."
We give them to thee. We lay them on
thine altar. May it sanctify the gift ! " Of
thine own have we given thee." Amen.

THE END.

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